What you’ll learn reading this article:
- Certain Nelson County locations present a risk of falls.
- Be cautious in five places you commonly visit in your daily life.
- If you slip and fall, you can sue for injury compensation.
Everywhere you go, there’s a risk of slipping and falling. Slip-and-fall accidents happen in a wide variety of locations and situations, causing surprisingly severe injuries. In fact, falls are the #1 cause of emergency room visits in the U.S.
Have you ever wondered where you’re at the highest risk of slipping and falling in your day-to-day life? Let’s take a look at the places in Nelson County, Kentucky with tripping hazards.
Nelson County Restaurants
A night out can turn dangerous in an instant. Restaurants pose a significant risk of slip-and-fall injuries. This is due to their heavy foot traffic, tightly-packed seating areas, and reliance on carpets, rugs, tile, vinyl, and other types of restaurant flooring. It may also have to do with the amount to grease or other liquids that can be found on the floor.
As you walk through your favorite restaurant, always keep an eye on the floor. According to the Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC), loose and worn flooring materials contribute directly to more than 2 million fall injuries each year.
Your Kentucky Workplace
We hate to break it to you, but your workplace is one of the most likely places you’ll ever be injured. Why? Because you spend a lot of time there. The risk is especially high if you work in a warehouse, production facility, or other industrial location with industrial equipment and/or stacked boxes.
Slips and falls are our nation’s leading cause of workers’ compensation claims. Workplace falls can be so serious, 5% of women and 11% of men who die in the workplace die from falling.
Clutter is one of the main culprits because it creates tripping hazards. Pay particular attention as you cross areas where the flooring material changes, like between a large open room and a narrow hallway.
Public Stairs and Escalators
When you’re moving from one floor to another, your risk of falling increases. As you ascend stairs or take a step onto a moving escalator, an uneven step can cause a stumble. If the building owner hasn’t kept these areas in good working order, you’re at risk of a fall.
In Kentucky, property owners have a legal obligation to keep walking areas like stairs, elevators, and escalators free of debris and operating safely. Premises liability includes buildings like hospitals, commercial buildings, government offices, malls, and even private homes and businesses. If you’re invited to the property and trip on a hazard, you may be entitled to compensation.
Store Parking Lots and Walkways
If you’ve ever tried to walk across an ice-covered parking lot, you may find it as slippery as a skating rink. One wrong step and you could take a spill.
If a Kentucky business owner fails to act reasonably in clearing snow and ice in a timely fashion, they may be liable for maintaining a dangerous condition on their property. Although there’s no hard-and-fast rule about how long a store owner has to address weather conditions, an injured customer may have a claim depending on the circumstances. These are tough cases and require lawyers with knowledge and skill.
Kentucky Retirement Homes
Kentucky has extensive safety regulations regarding nursing and retirement homes, but not all facilities play by the rules. Sometimes the owners ignore safety procedures or fail to mandate that their staff comply. They may even try to blame the resident who has limited mobility!
A slip-and-fall accident in one of these facilities is very serious. For people age 65-84 falls are the second-leading cause of injury-related death, and when someone over 85 dies of an injury a fall is the #1 cause.
If you or a loved one fell on someone else’s property, you can hold them responsible for the hazards they neglected to fix. Talk to a Kentucky personal injury attorney who can help you place the blame where it belongs and get the compensation you deserve.
Trust McCoy & Sparks – Premier Personal Injury Attorneys in Nelson County
Recognized as Nelson County’s best law firm for over a decade and counting, McCoy & Sparks works to help people in trouble, representing thousands of clients in Central Kentucky with a focus on providing premium service and delivering superior results. Regardless of the type of case, our goal is to develop a strategy that best serves your personal needs, then draw upon our courtroom skills to help you reach the best possible result. We start by getting to know you. Next, we will explain all your options, giving you the pros and cons of each choice so that you will be empowered to make informed decisions. You owe us nothing unless we recover compensation for you. Make the right call to 1-844-4KY-WINS for a risk-free consultation with one of our attorneys today.