How to Determine Fault of a Slip and Fall Injury

Every year, millions of people across the country suffer injuries as a result of a slip and fall accident. Some people have even lost their lives as the result of a serious injury. If a slip and fall occurs on someone else's property, the property owner may possibly be at-fault. If one suffers a slip and fall injury on that property, they have to determine who is at fault.

The person or company maintaining the property, or the actual property owner, has a duty to ensure that foreseeable causes of an injury do not exist on the property. For instance, in a mall, when the floor is wet from mopping, staff must place safety cones around the area or post warning signs so customers take care not to walk on a wet and slippery floor. If they don't, the mall may be liable if someone slips and falls on the floor and suffers an injury.

A slip and fall injury can be the result of unsafe surfaces where people walk, torn up carpeting, icy walkways, unsecured floorboards, cracks in the pavement, improper warning about a hazardous condition ahead...etc. To determine if your injury is the result of the negligence of another, you have to determine if the conditions that caused the slip and fall were out of the ordinary or could have easily been prevented.

If a property owner has done everything to warn the public of the hazard, he or she may not be liable. As well, if the condition is common and other people have not slipped and fallen, then the property owner may not be liable. It may have just been a coincidence that one slipped and fell. As well, a property owner will likely not be liable for someone slipping and falling on something that an ordinary person would expect to avoid. That is, we all have personal responsibility to take a certain amount of care when walking

A person or company may be liable for such conditions as: if they were responsible for leaving the area dangerous such as if they caused a spill on a floor, the owner was aware that there was a dangerous situation and did nothing to fix it, and the owner should have known that a slip and fall could occur as a result of the conditions and just left the conditions in the hazardous state. As well, there could be liability if the owner did not maintain proper health and safety examinations of the property, there was no reason for the object that was tripped over to be there, there were other places where the object could have been placed that were much safer, and inadequate lighting caused the person not to see there was hazard ahead.

The best way to determine if your injury was the result of another person's negligence is to consult with a personal injury lawyer. They have the knowledge and experience to determine who was at fault for the cause of the slip and fall. As well, they have access to experts in safety, accident deconstructionists, and medical experts. By consulting with a personal injury attorney, you will get an honest assessment on whether you have a valid slip and fall claim.