It’s Not Just The Floor That Needs To Be Safe
Brian O Sutter
Personal Injury
Usually when we talk about getting injured due to a slip and fall and talking to a personal injury lawyer about it, we’re referring to the indoors. This is especially true when it comes to public spaces, like grocery stores, or shopping malls. This is where the concept of premises liability comes into legal play. If a property owner allows others onto that property, either as visitors or customers, or to perform some other function with consent, such as delivering mail or packages, that property owner has a legal responsibility. That legal responsibility is to maintain a certain minimum standard of safety, and floor of a building is one of those standards.This means that if there is a spill on the floor, which could easily lead to someone tripping, slipping or falling, the property owner must deal with the problem as quickly as possible. If the property owner fails to address the danger, any injury that results from it is the legal responsibility of that owner.
More Than Just Floors
However, it’s not only floors that have this legal responsibility. Any walking surface on the property carries the same weight of premises liability. Whether it is the walkway leading up to your home, the stairs or escalators that allow guests/customers to ascend to the next floor, or even the arrangement of power cables in an office, the ability to safely navigate an area is the legal responsibility of the property owner to maintain, whether that property is professional or residential.
Fortunately in Florida, worrying about the idea of snow or ice making sidewalks slippery isn’t very likely. But in other states, a slippery walkway is something that both business and homeowners can be held liable for. However, in Florida, owners have just as much responsibility to make sure that stairways, for example, are in good repair, and, if indoors, properly lit.
In offices, carpeting may be viewed as the best solution for good traction, but changing flooring surfaces abruptly from one part of the room to another, or allowing thresholds to act as bumps on the floor can all trip or impact a person’s ability to maintain normal stride and fall. Even outdoors, in areas like swimming pools, if you’ve selected the wrong kind of stone or tile to surround your pool with, and it actually creates a slippery surface when wet, anyone that gets severely injured as a result of that wet tile may have a case to take to a personal injury lawyer.
If you or someone you know trips, slips or falls at someone else’s home, a place of work, or even a public space such as amusement park or shopping mall. Get professional help. Talk to a personal injury lawyer in Sarasota or Port Charlotte about your slip and fall accident. Chances are that if it was not your fault, and you can point to an environmental factor, then the property owner has failed in his or her legal responsibility, and a premises liability case may be the most logical option moving forward.