Lawsuits By: Matt Morrison Avoiding Slip And Fall A A woman fell and injured herself when walking through a bank lobby. After caring for the woman, bank administra-tors tried to locate the cause of the fall but could not find one. They called the cleaning contactor and asked if the lobby had been cleaned the night before and, if so, whether anything different had been done that might have caused the accident. The contractor responded that an autoscrub-ber had been used the night before to scrub the floor and a fresh coat of finish had been applied. To bank administrators, this was nothing less than an “a-ha” moment. Immediately, they assumed the accident was caused by the application of the finish and focused blame for the accident on the contractor. The woman, not sure who was at fault, sued both the bank and the cleaning contractor. The contractor denied any responsibility for the accident, but investigators could pinpoint no other explanation. As a result, the bank administrators then sued the contractor as well to cover their own possible exposure. Fortunately, the cleaning contractor hired an attorney well-versed in slip and fall accidents. The attorney ordered photographs to be taken of the accident scene. The pictures showed what had been missed Regardless of who is accountable, it is your job to ensure a clean, slip-resistant floor for building occupants. during previous inspections of the location: The fall was caused by a dip in the floor, where a wall had been removed by the bank. The dip could not be seen from the area of traf-fic flow used by the victim. Slips, Falls And Lawsuits Although this situation legally turned out well for this cleaning contractor, slip and fall accidents do happen frequently, and blame — whether justified or not — may be directed toward the cleaning contractor. Because of this, it is wise for cleaning contrac-tors to have some understanding of the legalities of slip and fall accidents to help protect them-selves in a similar situation. Slip and fall accidents are usually the result of carelessness, inattention or poor conditions. In many cases, such accidents occur because people are simply not using commonsense or paying attention to where they are walking. This is referred to as “personal carelessness” and is not the responsibility of the property owner or cleaning contractor. In general, for a slip and fall accident to become a legal matter with potential liability, courts will look at the following criteria: ■ Was there some degree of damage or change to the property, making it unsafe and possibly grounds for liability? Matt Morrison is com-munications manager for Kaivac, manufacturers of the OmniFlex crossover cleaning systems, No-Touch cleaning system and other products specifically designed for floor, surface and restroom cleaning. He may be reached via the company website at www.Kaivac.com for more info Visit www.cmmonline.com and type in search keyword: Slip And Fall . For more information on related products, visit www.cmmonline.com , select SUPPLIER SEARCH from the main navigation bar, and enter keyword: Floor Care . 14 CM/Cleaning & Maintenance Management ® • January 2012
CMM – Archives Jan 2012: 14
