If you own an independent grocery store or small neighborhood market, then it is important you proactively take steps to prevent slip and fall injuries. If one of your customers slips on your floor, falls down, and is injured, then they will likely file a personal injury lawsuit against your store. Though you have liability insurance for this type of accident, your premiums will go up if someone is injured onsite at your business and you open yourself up for negative press if someone becomes injured on your premises.
To prevent slip and fall injuries, take each of the following four tips into mind:
Tip #1: Mop Floors After-Hours and Use Warning Signs for Emergency Cleanup Areas
Since water on your grocery store's floors always poses a slip and fall risk, you can greatly reduce your liability by having a policy of always mopping floors after-hours when your store is closed. Additionally, when you need to make an emergency cleanup because something like a jar of pickles is broken on the floor, mop only the necessary area and put out "wet floor" signs to warn customers and employees of the hazard.
Tip #2: Use Doormats and Large Fans During Rainstorms
Your customers and courtesy clerks will track water into your store when it rains. To keep the rainwater off of the floors and keep them safer for everyone, place large doormats on the floor just inside of the doors during rainstorms. Since the mats will become soaked with water, set up some large fans to continually dry them.
Tip #3: Salt Walkways and Parking Lots During Icy Winter Conditions
Unless your store is located in a very warm climate where it never snows or freezes at night during the cold winter months, you need to regularly salt all of your walkways and icy areas in the parking lot. The salt lowers the freezing temperature of water and will melt ice even in very cold temperatures. Since ice is always slippery, simply salting it goes a long way towards preventing people from slipping and falling.
Tip #4: Install Ample Lighting in Your Parking Lot
Finally, one of the leading causes of slip and fall accidents both inside of independent grocery stores and in their parking lots is a lack of adequate lighting. Even though you may want to save electricity and don't see a reason to light up your parking lot like a Christmas tree, it is vital in case someone falls and files a personal injury lawsuit. When their case goes to court, you need to be able to prove you provided enough light so they wouldn't trip over curbs and other hazards without having clearly seen them.
Contact a firm, like Steele Law Offices, LLC, for more help.
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