When you hear the phrase “slip and fall,” it sounds like such a minor problem. Slip and falls, however, are among the most common and dangerous injuries that could happen to you. Falls alone account for eight million hospital emergency room visits annually and cause hospital visits.
Quality of life can become unhinged with just one slip and fall. Broken bones are the most common problem after a slip and fall, but several things can happen. Anyone can slip on something and then fall on something and hurt themselves multiple times in one accident. They are also a leading cause of workers’ compensation claims.
Why do they happen? There are several reasons. Check out the most common cause of slips and falls today.
Faulty Flooring or Poorly Managed Grounds
Faulty flooring is considered one of the leading causes of slips and falls. When the flooring is not appropriately maintained, a fall could occur in a residence or a business.
The entity that owns the flooring is usually the most liable. Faulty flooring that leads to slips and falls can occur anywhere and under many conditions:
- Wet or slippery flooring after inclement weather or cleaning
- Waxed floors without warning signs
- Outdoor areas such as damaged sidewalks, driveways, or parking lots
- Loose tiles, laminate planks, or hardwood flooring
- Frayed or damaged carpeting
- Cracked or uneven flooring
Business owners and homeowners alike are responsible for maintaining their interior and exterior grounds if they are open to the public. If they do not, and an accident such as a slip and fall happens, they can and will be held liable.
In inclement weather, business and homeowners must keep their paths clear of ice, snow, debris, and water.
Contact a South Carolina slip and fall attorney today for a free case review if you have problems after a slip and fall.
A Cluttered Path
If you encounter a slip and fall because you tripped over something that shouldn’t be there, the home or business owner could be held liable. It doesn’t matter if the clutter was there for just a minute or for a long time.
Clutter is very easy to trip over and fall over as well. You might find clutter in the aisle of a grocery store or retail outlet or the hallway of your neighbor’s home. It’s very easy to trip over something left in a hallway or store aisle.
Even if you tried to walk around the clutter and still fall, the home or business owner could still be liable.
Staircase and Stairwell Falls
The National Electronic Injury Surveillance System found that approximately 23 million stairway falls happened between 1990 and 2010 in the United States. These can happen for several reasons.
Loose handrails are a very common reason for stairway falls and can even be fatal. In many cases, stairway falls happen when a step is missing, or the stairs are not the proper height. If you add inclement weather to the mix, a severe and dangerous fall could happen. Even fatal falls can occur.
Bad Lighting
The CDC says that one out of every five falls will result in either a broken bone or severe head injury. Bad lighting is listed in the top five reasons for slip and falls. Bad lighting can occur anywhere.
When you can’t see where you are going, you are more likely to fall. As a result of bad lighting, a slip and fall can occur in parking lots, staircases, and hallways. It can also happen in your neighbor’s driveway, a porch entranceway, or the entryway to a business.
Bad lighting can contribute to a slip and fall in any of the above scenarios as well. If you can’t see when you are going down a set of stairs, you may trip or fall. It is not uncommon to fall up a set of stairs as well if you can’t see your way going up.
There are so many factors involved in a serious injury that comes from a slip and fall. You may think you have all of the facts at hand after a slip and fall, but you might be missing something significant.
An experienced South Carolina personal injury attorney can help you get to the bottom of a situation that resulted in your injuries. Contact the slip and fall team at McCravy Law to have your case reviewed.
When Are Slip and Falls Most Likely to Happen?
There’s an old saying in the slip and fall world. If someone is likely to fall someplace once, someone else will again. It may be an accident, but it is still a liability to someone if any of the above conditions were met, such as slippery floors or faulty stairwells.
There is no one set answer for where slip and falls may occur, other than they can happen anywhere. Unfortunately, it does not take much in public places for one to occur. Business owners must comply with certain regulations to make sure stairwells are safe, adequate lighting is everywhere on the premises, and floors are in good condition.
They also need to keep their driveways and parking lots clear and their entryways free of debris and clutter. It may be an accident if it’s a slip and fall, but it is also very possible that it was a preventable one.
Slip and falls can occur anywhere, even in hospitals. Your home and workplace are the most common areas for slip and falls, but other common places include:
- Hospitals
- Retail establishments
- Restaurants
- Movie theaters
- Stadiums
- Parks
- Apartment buildings
- Swimming pools
- Escalators
Contact a South Carolina Slip and Fall Attorney
Slip and fall injuries hospitalize over 800,000 Americans annually because they are disastrous and sometimes fatal accidents. From broken hips to head injuries, what sounds like an innocent slip could completely upset your quality of life for a long time.
Sometimes they upset your life forever. Safety regulations are in place for business owners and homeowners alike for a good cause. If an accident happens and you are injured, someone might be liable.
There may be more to your case than meets the eye. You deserve compensation for lost wages, medical bills, and pain and suffering. Call McCravy Law today at (864) 388-9100 to book a free consultation.
About the author