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We take on a lot of compensation claims for people who have tripped and fallen on steps. To be fair, they are pretty dangerous. So when can you make a claim for personal injury compensation as a result of a trip on some steps?

There has to be something wrong with the steps for you to be able to make a claim. There has to be negligence and someone has to be liable. To coin a common phrase, where there is blame, there may be a claim.

So here are a couple of examples where you may be able to make a personal injury compensation claim for tripping on dangerous steps.

Broken Steps

If steps are broken and you trip or fall as a result, whoever is responsible for the maintenance of the steps may be liable to compensate you. Whether they are liable or not could come down to what kind of notice they had about the damage, or whether they have a reasonable system of inspection and maintenance to stop a hazard arising.
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Every time I see one of these claims come in to the office, the first things that runs through my head is how common and classic these types of accidents are. General supermarket slipping accidents are of course common in general, but for some reason, grapes seem to be one of the biggest culprits of supermarket slipping accidents.

Perhaps it’s because they can easily end up falling out of a bag or out of a box, and their size is probably fairly difficult to spot on the floor. But despite its small size, they can be a horrendous slipping hazard when stepped on. You might not have thought it, but as I’ve said, we take on a lot of grape slipping claims.

The injuries can be fairly severe. Aside from the obvious broken bones from landing hard on a supermarket floor, you could easily stretch and rupture ligaments and tendons in areas like your back, ankles, or knees, which in the worst case scenarios can leave you needing surgical intervention. All because of just a grape!
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One bit of loose carpet can be a serious issue if someone trips on it or slips because it isn’t gripping the floor. Tripping or slipping can be bad enough if you fall down to the floor fast and hard, but what about carpets on stairs? You take a fall down a flight of stairs and you can end up with serious injuries.

So is there a law or a duty when it comes to loose carpets? It depends on where it happens, but given its likely it will be in a place of work or in a public place, here is the info you need to know:

Loose Carpet at Work

Regulation 12 (2) (a) 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.
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If you have been injured in an accident at work, such as by slipping on a wet floor, you may be able to claim compensation. Ordinarily the claim would be against your employer presuming that they own the premises in which the accident occurred. This could differ in certain circumstances. For example if you worked in a council building which let offices out to various companies. Under the terms of the contract your employer is likely to be responsible for the offices which they let. Say for example your accident occurred in the corridor or in the communal kitchen area – this may be an area which the council are responsible for. However if the accident occurred at your place of work and this is your employers own building, any claim would be against your employer.

In terms of slipping on a wet floor at work, we would consider whether there was any warning of the danger. Was there a wet floor sign in place? If a wet floor sign was not in place then it would be more difficult for the Defendant to deny liability. Even if there was a wet floor sign, this does not necessarily mean that you cannot claim. We would query whether the wet floor sign was clearly visible or whether it was obstructed. In law you often hear the phrase “every case is different”. Well this is true and this is the reason you need to speak to a team of experienced and dedicated personal injury lawyers.
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So you are the cruel victim of what may seem like a terrible slapstick joke – you’ve tripped over and you’ve injured yourself, and whilst your dignity may heal in a matter of hours, your physical injuries may not be so easy to get rid of. Tripping and landing hard on the ground can cause some serious injuries like fractures, ligament tears and ruptures from stretching and twisting, and back injuries from twisting or being thrown to the ground violently.

So if you have tripped over and you want to make a claim, how do you go about it? If you tripped because of someone else’s negligence, you may be able to make a successful personal injury claim. For example, if you tripped due to a pothole or defect in the street, or tripped over an unattended box in a supermarket, or tripped over a loose cable in the office – if you think someone is at fault, we can tell you if we think you can claim.
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If you go to a public place like a supermarket or a bar, restaurant, or a shop, the occupiers of the premises have an important duty under the Occupiers Liability Act to take all reasonable steps to look after your health and safety as a visitor to their premises. When it comes to slipping hazards, this is generally achieved by having a system of inspection and maintenance which aims to reduce the risk of someone slipping on a wet floor hazard.

Claims under the Occupiers Liability Act are inherently difficult to win because most places nowadays do uphold their duty to take all reasonable steps. As I said earlier, a system of inspection and maintenance can be classed as taking reasonable steps.
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I’m going to discuss the duty your employer has when it comes to working in an environment where a wet floor is common in the workplace.

Say you work in a car wash, or a water plant, or somewhere where the floor is likely to be wet. If this is the case, then can you claim for compensation for slippingon a wet floor at work?

After all, if the floor is wet because of the nature of the business, what can your employer do to prevent an accident occurring? For that answer, we turn to the relevant legislation…
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If you sustain injury due to falling, tripping etc over a defective or wobbly pavement, then you may be entitled to claim compensation. Ordinarily these claims would be against the local council if the accident occurred on a public footpath or road. However any potential claim could also be against a local shop for example if the accident occurred in front of a shop and that land is owned by the shop in question. Whoever owns the land (whether it be the council or a shop owner) owes you a duty of care. This is to ensure that you are safe whilst on their land.

To be successful with a claim of this type there must be some defect that has caused the injury. It is highly important that, should you wish to pursue a claim, you obtain photographs of the defect in question. This is of paramount importance should liability be disputed in the case. The depth and nature of the defect is likely to be extremely important in determining liability. Also note that the defect could be repaired at any stage meaning that you may lose the opportunity to obtain photographic evidence of the defect. Video footage showing the wobble of the pavement could also prove very useful to help show how dangerous it was.
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Contrary to popular belief, you are not automatically owed compensation if you have an accident in a supermarket. In fact, making a successful claim can be very hard indeed. That’s why we can step in and let you know what precautions you need to take that can increase your chances of making a claim.

The legal duty for the supermarket is to reasonably inspect and maintain their premises. This can be achieved with regular inspection to clear away slip or trip hazards on the ground, for example. Most supermarkets, at least on record, have good systems in place. So here is what you need to do to maximise your chances of making a successful injury claim.
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Today is a Friday – so most of the country (I imagine) is waiting for 5’o-clock to hit so they can escape the workplace and wind down after a week of working hard. Obviously we’re not – we’re open until 10pm tonight and 9am – 5pm over the weekend (and on the bank holiday) because we’re a little crazy and like to be as accessible as possible to our clients!

But the point I’m making is that the last thing anyone expects is to be going about their daily working business and suddenly slip over and injure themselves at work.
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