Hazardous chemicals, such as those used for cleaning or polishing floors, may create dangerous conditions. Employees of a business establishment owe a duty of care to warn patrons that a floor recently received a treatment and may cause them to slip and fall.
Without a noticeable warning to alert visitors, a business’s owner may face liability for injuries that occur on the premises. In one notable case, a 23-year-old professional tennis player slipped and fell on the floor in a locker room. As reported by USA Today, after falling on her back and injuring her head she also felt a “burning sensation” on her skin from the powerful solution used for cleaning.
A slip-and-fall accident may lead to a legal action
Because a harmful chemical made the floor slippery and unsafe, employees owed a duty to warn visitors to keep away from that section of the locker room. For example, the worker who finished polishing the floor could have placed orange cones around the area that an individual may have had trouble walking on.
A fall that results in broken bones, fractures or severe head injuries may require extensive medical care. An injured individual may need physical therapy and rehabilitation to heal. He or she may also require financial support for taking time off from work to recover. In the case of the tennis player, the injury caused her world ranking to fall from No. 5 to No. 116.
A business owner may be liable for extensive damages
As reported by Consumernotice.org, the CDC found that injuries from falls required over $50 billion worth of medical expenses during 2015. A lawsuit resulting from a devastating slip-and-fall accident may provide compensation for all of an injured party’s medical expenses and also cover pain and suffering, a loss of income and lessened quality of life.
