Slipping on a liquid substance on the floor – whether it’s simply water, oil, juice, or perhaps some trodden on fruit or food – will likely result in some form of injury. Whether you’ve hit the ground and bruised or broken limbs or even where the slip has caused a twisting injury to an ankle or the back perhaps, it can be a painful experience to go through.
So what happens if you slip on a liquid in a public place like a shop or a supermarket, or perhaps if you have slipped on liquid at work? Can you make a claim for a slipping injury compensation?
The Law
When it comes to places like shops and supermarkets there is an important piece of health and safety legislation in force that we call The Occupiers Liability Act. The gist of this act is that the occupier of a premises – i.e. the supermarket company or a shop owner – has a duty to take all reasonable steps to prevent someone being injured on their premises.
Within the workplace there is a separate piece of legislation called The Workplace (Health, Safety and Welfare) Regulations that simply impose the following:
So far as is reasonably practicable, every floor in a workplace and the surface of every traffic route in a workplace shall be kept free from obstructions and from any article or substance which may cause a person to slip, trip or fall.
An employer is therefore also expected to take reasonable steps to prevent such an occurrence in the workplace.
So can I claim for a slip on spilled liquid?
You certainly can, but it all can depend on the individual circumstances of your slip. A liquid spill can happen for numerous reasons – it could come from a customer who has dropped a carton of milk; it could come from a leaking fridge; it could even come from mop water on the floor. However it has happened, its important in identifying whether you have a winning case or not.
Once we can identify the source of the liquid spill we can look at whether those responsible have taken reasonable steps to prevent accidents from a spilled liquid. The most commonly used tactic is to have a system of inspection and maintenance where employees of the responsible premises must inspect and clear away hazards on a regular basis. Any reported hazards should be cleared or made safe immediately as well.
Whether a liquid is dried up or wet floor signs or cordons are deployed, reasonable steps ought to be taken. When it comes down to mop water there should be policies to immediately deploy cordons or wet floor signs to make people aware of a potential slipping hazard. An additional step can be training employees in ‘clean as you go‘ policies where they must look out for and clear away any hazards they spot.
Another thing to note from a law perspective is that, when it comes down to spilled liquids in the workplace that are caused by machinery or equipment leaking, we can also rely upon The Provision and Use of Work Equipment Regulations which state that:
Every employer shall ensure that work equipment is maintained in an efficient state, in efficient working order and in good repair
Therefore if the leak is because the machinery is defective, we can use the above as well.
Will I win my slip on a liquid claim?
It is difficult to judge unless we actually initiate a claim against the opponent. We don’t know what sort of records or policies they may or may not have, so the best thing to do is call us 0800 634 7575 and we can submit a claim to them right away.
It can take less than half an hour in one phone call to get a case set up. With The Injury Lawyers you don’t have to fill in lengthy paperwork or wait around – it’s simple to get things started.
Word of caution though: contact us immediately because there are steps we can take to preserve evidence that could be the making or breaking of your case. CCTV footage is often destroyed within a matter of weeks so you do not want to risk losing such important evidence for a case.
