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Businesses with dirty premises could cause visitor injuries

On Behalf of | Mar 24, 2023 | Firm News

It takes a lot of effort to keep a business clean during its hours of operation. The more visitors and customers that enter a space, the more opportunities there are for spills and other issues that will require attention from the staff. Unfortunately, such issues often do not receive the attention they require in a timely manner, which can lead to someone getting hurt.

Slip-and-fall incidents can occur at any time and may leave someone with broken bones, a brain injury and/or internal bleeding. Over a million people each year require emergency medical care because of a slip-and-fall. There are multiple ways in which improper cleaning might lead to someone getting hurt at a local business. Oftentimes, those injuries lead to successful premises liability claims which result in financial compensation for an injury victim’s losses.

How poor maintenance practices harm the public

It doesn’t likely seem like a major issue or a business to have such low staffing levels that the workers can’t address spills or other issues until the end of the shift or when the business closes at night. However, the longer a puddle of rainwater or half a cup of spilled coffee sits on the floor, the more likely it is for someone to get hurt.

People entering businesses have a reasonable expectation of safety in those public spaces, and they may not watch carefully for safety hazards like spilled dry rice or a puddle of melted ice cream. When businesses have too few workers, visitors end up hurt as a result when they fall. If reasonable people would agree that workers cleaning up a spill or a puddle would have prevented a fall, the injured visitor may have grounds for a premises liability claim.

Quite a few businesses carry special insurance that protects against premises liability. People injured in a slip-and-fall can pursue an insurance claim or in some cases, a lawsuit against the business for medical expenses and property damage losses. If an injury forces someone to miss work, their lost wages could also contribute to the claim.

Recognizing that a business’s negligence has led to an injury is often the first step toward pursuing a premises liability claim successfully. Those who are unsure of whether their injuries are legally actionable can benefit from seeking legal guidance.