For some reason, a lot of ramps can often get very slippery in wet weather, and you’d think they’d have really good grip on them given that a sloped surface could be even more of a hazard if it’s slippery.
If you are the victim of a slip on a ramp, can you make a claim for personal injury compensation? I’ll split this one in to two sections – one for accidents at work, and one for general ones when out and about.
Not at Work
A ramp, if deployed outside, should have appropriate grip on it to stop you from slipping. If the material of the ramp doesn’t have sufficient grip and is a hazard when wet, we could argue that whoever is responsible for the ramp could have been negligent. If there is a warning sign, they could avoid being at fault. But if there are no warnings, you may have a valid claim.
Whoever is responsible for the ramp ought to know if a slipping hazard could arise – for example if it’s outside. So this should be taken in to consideration.
At Work
At work, we could look at a few specific regulations that we may be able to allege your employer has breached in failing to look after you properly.
The Workplace (Health, Safety and Welfare) Regulations 1992 have a specific section for the condition of floors and traffic routes that states:
…the floor, or surface of the traffic route, shall have no hole or slope, or be uneven or slippery so as, in each case, to expose any person to a risk to his health or safety…
So we can quote that to them if they fail to take steps to stop a ramp being, or becoming, slippery.
If a ramp is part of your work equipment, perhaps it is on the back of a van or lorry or used a mobile ramp used to access somewhere, we could also quote The Provision and Use of Work Equipment Regulations 1998 which state that:
Every employer shall ensure that work equipment is so constructed or adapted as to be suitable for the purpose for which it is used or provided.
As such, if you are provided with a ramp to use in wet conditions and it is dangerous because there is a lack of or no grip on the ramp, we can argue they are in breach of the above regulations as well!
Winning a Claim and 100% Compensation
To win a case we need to prove that whoever is responsible for the ramp is in breach of the important rules and regulations in place – which rules and regulations these are can depend on things like whether the accident happened whilst out and about, in a shop, art work, or in rented premises.
For slipping claims like this we can normally offer a full 100% compensation agreement so get in touch today for help and advice on 0800 634 75 75.
Legislation: http://www.legislation.gov.uk/