Watch Your Steps
You are walking through the aisles of a grocery store glancing at the shelves for the items on your list, trying to control the urge to reach out to that heavenly box of chocolates, suddenly you find yourself looking at the ceiling instead of the chocolates. In a few moments you realize that you have tripped and fell on a lose tile. In other scenarios it could be at work, a restaurant or other public buildings. Hopefully this has not happened to you but how likely is it to happen?
According to the Centers for Disease Control and (CDC), every year over 1,000,000 Americans suffer from a slip, trip, and fall injury and over 17, 000 people die because of these injuries. Approximately 15 percent of all job related injuries (which account for 12% to 15% of all Workers’ compensation expenses) occur due to Slip, trip and fall accidents. According to OSHA, slip and fall is the second leading cause of injuries and deaths after car accidents.
What should you do if you are the victim of a slip/trip and fall accident?
If you slip, trip or fall on a public or private property and become injured due to unsafe conditions, such as, stripped tiles, uneven floor, broken stairs etc, the owner of the property may be held liable for the accident. Therefore, it is very important to know what to do if you become a victim of an accident. The following are some of the important things to remember:
Determine the cause of the accident:
Depending upon the nature of the injury, it may be difficult for you to keep yourself together but it is important to try to figure out the exact cause of the accident, such as, a spill on the floor, loose tile etc.
Determine the responsibility:
Accidents almost always happen due to negligence on somebody’s part. In the case of slip and fall it can be very difficult to determine the responsibility. You should make your best effort to find out who is at fault. Once it is determined who was responsible, that person or entity can be held legally liable.
Collect evidence:
Physical evidence is very important in determining liability for an accident. Therefore, you should try to collect as much physical evidence as possible. All of the evidence collected will be used to recreate the accident scene whether you chose to go to court or settle outside. Physical evidence includes various type of information, such as, lighting, condition of the floor, proper signages for caution, such as, wet floor etc. If possible try to take pictures using your cell phone or if you have a camera on hand. A picture is indeed worth a thousand words and can be very useful in proving your case. Take pictures from as many angles as possible. Also take pictures of your injuries if there are external visible injuries. In addition to this, also take names, addresses and contact info of witnesses if any were present at the time of the accident.
Report the accident:
Report the accident to the owner/manager or any other person in-charge at the property, as soon as possible and ensure that they make an official record of it. Timely and proper reporting of the incident is important because it will establish that you did have an accident.
Document everything:
It is very important to prepare comprehensive documentation of all aspects of the accident. Writing everything down as soon as possible will ensure that all of the necessary details are recorded. This documentation should include the details of the accident, the injuries you suffered, police reports (if any), medical reports, hospital bills, pictures, and any written communications to and from insurance companies.
Calculate your loss:
An important aspect of your claim will be calculation of the monetary loss. Include in your calculation, all expenses occurred, including medical bills, property loss, lost wages etc.
Timely filing the claim:
After doing all the hard work of collecting evidence and documenting everything, the final most important thing is to file your claim in a timely manner. The law allows you to claim compensation only within a specific period after an accident. This period is called the statute of limitations and it varies from state to state, but in most cases it is 1-2 years. Beware Government Entities have a much more limited statute of limitation such as six months…seek attorney advice immediately!
Although, consulting an attorney is not the first thing most people think about after a personal injury accident, given the complexity of proving liability in such cases, it might be in the best interest in many cases to consult an attorney before pursuing the claim yourself.
