I am sure it has happened to you at least once in your life, you are walking along properly and you lose your footing and fall, due to a property owner not maintaining their properly safely as is required by law.. Sometimes we are not lucky enough to catch ourselves and realize the true force of gravity. Slip and fall accidents are more common than you may think and can often result in serious injury, disability and hospitalization, especially with the elderly.

What the statistics say about slips and falls….

Here are some statistics on slip and fall claims that may surprise you from the National Safety Floor Institute (NSFI):

• Falls account for over 8 million hospital emergency room visits, this represents the leading cause of visits  (21.3%). Although the walking surface is most likely to be identified as the primary cause of a slip, trip-and-fall accident, comprising 55% of all falls, the remaining 45% are attributable to four other factors, including footwear, fraud, hazard identification, and training. Therefore, a property owner’s slip and fall prevention strategy should focus on a comprehensive approach that addresses all causes especially their floors.
•  Slips and falls do not constitute a primary cause of fatal occupational injuries, but represent the primary cause of lost days from work.
• Slips and falls are the leading cause of workers’ compensation claims and are the leading cause of occupational injury for people aged 15-24 years.
• Bone fractures are the most serious result of falls and occur in 5% of all people who fall. Even carpeting cannot prevent a fracture if pressure on the bones occurs in an un-natural manor.
• Surprisingly half of all accidental deaths in the home are caused by a fall.  NFSI statistics show that most fall injuries in the home happen at ground level, not from an elevation.
• Of all fractures caused by from falls, fractures to the hip(s) are the most serious and lead to the greatest number of continued health problems and deaths.

According to the CDC In 2005, more than 15,8007 people over the age of 65 died as a result of a fall. Up from 7,700 a decade earlier. The CDC also reports that approximately 1.8 million people over the age of 65 were treated in an emergency room as a result of a fall.

85% of worker’s compensation claims are attributed to employees slipping on slick floors (Industrial Safety & Occupational Health Markets 5th edition). 22% of slip/fall incidents resulted in more than 31 days away from work (US Bureau of Labor Statistics (2002).

Often a good number of the people listed in the statistics above fall due to a property owner not being vigilant about the safety of others coming on their property. All too often, unfortunately, property owners’ failure to maintain their property as required by law causes one to fall and sustain what can sometimes be catastrophic injuries. Property owners are in the best position to cut down on the number of people injured each year by needless falls. If property owners would do even the most basic inspection to make sure their property is safe and ensure there are no tripping or slipping hazards the statistics above would go way down and  injuries could easily be avoided.

A personal injury case stems from a slip and fall accident that occurs on someone else’s property, which comes under the umbrella of premises liability or worker’s compensation if the falls occurs while at your place of employment. If someone slips and falls on premises that are owned or maintained by someone else and sustains injuries, then there may be grounds to file for compensation for any injuries sustained as a result of that slip and fall accident due to property owner’s failure to follow important laws on making their property safe.. If you have any questions resulting from a slip and fall accident, please give our office a call at 866-488-8625 or visit our website at:http://tindall.webozy.net/premises-liabilityslip-fall-accidents/