I’m going to start by probably pointing out the obvious here – accidents and incidents in bars, pubs and clubs are all too common. When there’s lots of alcohol, lots of excitement, and lots of people all crowded together, the potential for accidents is inevitable. The focus of this blog is going to be on accidents as oppose to incidents however; for more info on that, look up criminal injuries on our main blog page.
So, aside from the fact that lots of alcohol means lots of people with less balance and concentration jigging around the place, there are plenty of other obstacles and hazards that could cause you some serious damage.
Slips
With so much alcohol being consumed in a busy environment where drunken people are likely to bump in to each other and spill drinks, floors of bars, pubs and clubs are often soaked with a mixture of all sorts of wines, beers and sprits. Wet floors can be a significant hazard; particularly when you’re dancing around or liable to stumble because of how much you’ve had to drink yourself! And you girls will no doubt be sporting the tallest high heels you can lay your hands on which makes you far more vulnerable to falling at the hands of a wet floor.
Simple slips can be laughed off – especially when you’re in such good spirits (and on good spirits as well!). But landing hard on a solid floor can leave you with serious injuries: fractured limbs or damaged ligaments from overstretching as you slip.
Broken Glass
The amount of broken glass that ends up on the floor by the end of a club night is unbelievable! In some ways it’s expected given the above – and the dangers is poses can be serious. We have represented many people who have fallen and been quite badly hurt by broken glass on the floor. It only takes one shard to go through a major part of your body and you could end up with a serious injury. Scarring is also something you may well have to live with too.
For the above examples, there may be a claim for compensation for any injuries you have suffered with. To prevent this kind of thing from happening and to comply with health and safety law, the owners of such establishments should regularly inspect and maintain their premises to ensure that the risks of these hazards are reduced as much as possible. Claims are inherently difficult due to the fact that most places do have systems in place to regularly identify and clean up any spillages or hazards as quickly as possible. If you happen to be injured between inspection periods, a claim may be difficult to win.
There are other accidents that can occur which are difficult to pursue if you are going to hold the owners of the pub, bar, or club at fault. People get knocked in to in clubs all the time, and it can be difficult to safely navigate a place if there is a lot of people in there; but that’s not something that the owners can easily be held responsible for.
If you were drunk and simply fell over as a result of the amount of alcohol you had consumed, there is little chance of being able to make a claim for compensation in my personal opinion. Another thing to remember is that your own interpretation of what happened could be considerably different if it was the case that you had consumed quite a lot of alcohol. There have been people in the past who have claimed they have slipped over due to wet floors, when CCTV has revealed that in reality, they were blind drunk and fell over their own feet trying to get to the toilet! Consider making a claim carefully – pursuing a misleading or inaccurate claim could be tantamount to fraud – which is illegal, and may end with you owing a huge legal bill to an angry solicitor!
For comprehensive advice about whether you have a claim for compensation, call our free claims helpline on 0800 634 75 75 today.
