Slips and falls are actually more common than you might think. Falls account for over 8 million hospital emergency room visits each year, making up around 21.3% of all hospital visits. On the other hand, slips and falls combined account for over 1 million visits, or around 12% of all falls. This is a substantial number that can’t be ignored, but what exactly causes this drastic number of slips and falls?
The most common causes include wet or uneven surfaces, distractions and rushing, poor weather conditions as well as fraudulent situations.When proper safety precautions are not taken, such accidents may become a legal matter and one may need experienced slip and fall injury lawyer who will help you in assessing the value of your claim and suggest an appropriate action plan for a successful case.
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Wet or uneven surfaces
According to the National Floor Safety Institute, around 55% of slip and fall accidents across the globe happen due to wet and uneven surfaces. This could be anything from weather conditions like rain causing a surface to be slippery, or uneven surfaces caused by poor construction. In reality, there are many things that could contribute to an uneven or wet surface.
Walking on these surfaces is hazardous and could cause many sudden changes that would lead to an injury. For instance, defective sidewalks could crack, causing your foot to make a misstep. Similarly, loose floorboards could shift under your weight, causing you to slip and fall.
Wet and uneven conditions are everywhere. While most people are extra cautious when they notice a wet or uneven floor, it can occur in many places with a lot of foot traffic. Whether it’s a domestic, commercial or industrial situation, wet and uneven flooring can affect everyone, hence why it has such a high accident rate. To avoid this, it’s essential that you take good care of your floors and always put up warning signs should the floor be wet or hazardous.
Distractions and rushing
Many slip and fall accidents actually come from distractions. In many cases, distractions can cause missteps in footing, such as accidentally kicking a curb or tripping over something on the floor. Situations like these can easily be avoided by paying more attention to the floor. In some cases, rushing to a destination may cause a slip and fall accident, especially if you’re not keeping your eyes on the floor ahead of you.
Distractions can also amplify other causes for slip and fall accidents. For instance, you might be rushing to get to a destination while the floor is wet, causing you to slip and potentially hurt yourself. You might also be distracted (such as talking to a colleague) while traversing an uneven floor on a construction site which could lead to a high chance of injury.
The best way to avoid this is to always take caution and to avoid distractions as much as possible. If you need to look at a phone or book, it’s best to stop and take a break. If the weather conditions are bad or there’s an uneven floor, take extra care to watch your step and avoid distractions.
Poor weather conditions
Adverse weather conditions can lead to slip and fall injuries. We’ve already discussed wet floors being one of the main causes of slip and fall accidents, and it can be amplified when there’s a lot of rain. However, snow and icy floors can also increase the chances that you face a slip and fall injury. Thankfully, this can be prevented by taking the safety precautions for winter weather. This involves a number of things such as using the right footwear, having warning signs around to alert people, and also using deicers to clear walkways and common footpaths. Snow removal companies may also be used in circumstances where there is a lot of ice or snow.
In some circumstances, it may be difficult to avoid poor weather conditions. In this case, you’ll want to try and avoid rushing across hazardous floors, avoid distractions and keep your eyes ahead of you. You should also wear the appropriate footwear to cope with certain weather conditions like snow and ice.
Fraudulent causes
Surprisingly, around 3% of slip and fall cases are actually fraudulent. This means that they are staged, such as a person dramatically throwing themselves to the floor or purposely pouring a slippery substance on a floor and slipping on it. There are also a small number of cases where someone has claimed a slip and fall accident, but nothing actually took place.
In short, as long as you provide people with the right equipment to traverse hazardous floors, avoid distractions and are more mindful about uneven surfaces, you can avoid many slip and fall accidents.
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