Supermarket Slips, Trips and Falls

Slips and trips happen to everyone – depending on the circumstances, you may be entitled to compensation. When they occur in the supermarket they can be trickier to claim for – after all, the other side will do everything possible to prevent having to pay out for your compensation. The supermarket needs to demonstrate that it did everything that is reasonably expected to prevent the injury in order to defend a claim. So, to you and me, that means that they have to prove that they took steps to look after customer’s safety – e.g. checking aisles for spillages on a regular basis, or only stacking products safely with proper procedures and training in place for staff.

Most victims of slips or trips claims in supermarkets believe that the store should have done more to prevent it happening. But ultimately, in a court of law, the supermarket is not obliged to go over and above expectations to prevent a slip accident. In terms of the business it would cost them too much to have someone watching all the aisles all of the time. However, they are required to carry out routine checks and use warning signs when a hazard is identified. One example you might see often is the wet floor signs on the premises. In many premises they will also have signs up for staff to fill in after routine checks – these are usually most visible in toilets but they will have the same checklist for the store as well.

If you can prove that there was no warning sign for a hazard that has made you slip, trip or fall, and that the store hadn’t carried out its routine check within a reasonable amount of time (typically stores run checks hourly), then your claim for compensation becomes increasingly stronger.

Collecting evidence to prove your supermarket accident claim at the time of the slip, trip or fall is probably the last thing on your mind, but it is the best time to do it. Pictures are the best way to illustrate the condition of the store at the time of the incident, so ensure that you take some or get someone to take them on your behalf if possible. You should request to see a log of the store checks for the day of the incident and you should also be logged in the stores accident book.