Spring and summer rainstorms can lead to injuries at stores

It was a long day at work. You know you need to pick up some basic staples at the store on the way home, like toothpaste or milk. It’s starting to rain, so you find yourself jogging toward the front door. You walk into the store, pull down the hood of your coat and go to grab a cart.

Only you don’t quite make it. The floor inside is soaking wet, you slip on the linoleum and wind up on your back. The world is spinning around you. A slip-and-fall only takes a few seconds to happen, and it can cause persistent injuries in some cases.

Many different factors, from your age to your health, can impact how severe a slip and fall is for you. The proximity of dangerous items, such as rigid metal carts or shelving units, to your body when you fall could also increase the likelihood of a serious injury.

Rainy weather is often a contributing factor to wet and unsafe premises in buildings. Property owners should take action as soon as possible to remediate moisture or puddling on the floor. Failing to do so could put visitors at risk of a slip-and-fall. Those visitors could end up filing a personal injury claim.

Businesses open to the public have to keep their property safe

One of the most expensive aspects of running a business is often paying for the premises in which business operates and securing insurance. Liability insurance is critical for any business that has a physical location. Staffing is also expensive. Some employers don’t keep adequate staff on hand or don’t emphasize the importance of maintenance and cleaning.

Even if the company has strict maintenance policies, it only takes one negligent employee to leave the entire business at risk for a premises liability lawsuit. A business owner has to ensure adequate maintenance to keep the property safe for the public.

Failing to clean up spills and standing water are an obvious oversight of maintenance. In a scenario where a store fails to keep the floor safe and dry, they could find themselves legally liable for the injuries that result from someone’s slip.

Slipping and falling can cause severe injuries

As previously mentioned, a host of factors can influence how serious the physical injuries are that accompany a slip-and-fall accident. In some cases, the person who falls could break a bone. They may strike an arm or a leg against a fixture or wall. They could break an arm attempting to brace themselves.

Other times, people can suffer head injuries as a result of a fall. Whether someone hits their head on a cart, a shelving unit or the floor, a traumatic brain injury with lifelong consequences could be the result. Spinal cord injuries and soft tissue injuries could also result from a sudden slip, all of which can prove to be very expensive for the person who falls.