My Legal Blog

Howdy! I'm Dan Smith and I live with my wonderful family in Perth. This is my legal blog which aims to look at every part of the legal system. I should point out that i'm not a lawyer myself. However, my good friend Stan has been representing people in court for many years. I find Stan's work fascinating and I love asking him questions. I have even done a bit of my own research into the legal system. I decided to pull everything together here so I could organise my thoughts while also providing useful info for others. Thanks for checking out my blog!

Slip and Fall? How to Determine If a Supermarket Is Liable

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As people go about their lives, they visit a number of different private and public venues and as they do so, they expect to be safe and secure. They'll take the usual and necessary precautions to safeguard themselves, of course, but sometimes they may become a victim of somebody else's incompetence or neglect. In this case, they may slip and fall at that venue and sustain significant injuries, some of which could be life-altering. In such a situation they need to understand the venue's liability and hire a lawyer to help protect themselves from loss. If you're in this situation currently, you may be wondering what do you need to know about that venue owner's responsibility?

Duty of Care

All venues, whether they are commercial facilities or publicly maintained places, have a duty of care to those who may visit. Venue owners need to pay particular attention to safety and will need to continuously update their standards as things change. Of course, accidents will happen no matter what, and this is why venue owners have insurance. 

Attributing the Cause

However, insurance companies will want to understand the cause of an accident and will find out whether the policyholder was in fact negligent or whether the claimant contributed to their fall. This is why it is important for you to understand what happened and what the venue owner should have done to prevent it.

Best Practices

For example, if you happened to slip and fall on water that had leaked out of a cabinet, then you may have a strong case. Facilities have to take immediate action if an event like this is discovered and must take steps to clean it up as soon as practical. When the cleaning staff are working, they have to set up a warning sign to let everybody else know. If they are not able to clean immediately, then they have to have a sign in place to warn people of the slipping hazard. Many facilities also have a member of staff remain at the location until it is all safe.

Predictions

Managers are supposed to predict certain problems as well and take steps to try and prevent them. For example, small items of produce (like berries or grapes) may be liable to fall to the floor simply due to their nature. Managers are supposed to package or display them in such a way that this risk is minimised.

Best Approach

Many of these standards are used across the industry, and if a particular facility failed to reach those standards, you may have a very strong case. However, you should always work with a competent lawyer whenever you discuss the case with an insurance company so that you can counter any of the arguments and get your just deserves.

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27 December 2019