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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
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I can’t tell how many times I have worked on a personal injury claim that involves tripping as a result of a protrusion in the street; whether it is a raised paving slab, loose drain cover, or bit of metal struck it the concrete.  These accidents are every common and can cause significant injury to someone walking along without any knowledge of them.

Tripping accidents are seen mainly as a comical stereotypical claim taken on without a good reason – but it is important to understand that these kinds of accidents can often cause a great deal of pain and suffering to the person involved. Landing hard on a concrete floor can cause broken bones and serious damage to your body. This can involve you having to take time off work and incurring a loss of earnings or missing out on holidays booked, amongst many other inconveniences.

So it’s certainly something that shouldn’t be taken so lightly.
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I can’t tell you how many cases we deal with that relate to what people might call “stereotypical accidents” – the main one of course being slipping on a wet floor! But this type of accident can caused injuries that can be very painful and debilitating, not to mention to extremely embarrassing and panic worthy.

These claims are mainly associated with poorly maintained floors, such as staff mopping the floor with excess amounts of water, or failing to put down wet floor signs, or just plain old spillages. The most common places for accidents like this to occur are usually supermarkets, the workplace, or any public building. There is a legal obligation to have warnings of when such hazards are present, such as wet floor signs that should be shown to make people walking near the hazard aware of any danger.

A lot of people wonder if you can really claim for slipping on a wet floor, as it’s mainly associated with tongue in cheek humor – but YOU CAN! The majority of cases such as those in supermarkets and other public building can be claimed under Occupiers Liability Act. This law is supposed to ensure that the owner or proprietor ensures to keep their property a safe environment for the public.
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Elbow Injuries can cause significant problems; everyday tasks can be made extremely difficult to do yourself. There are commonly two types of elbow injuries – traumatic injuries caused as a result of an accident or singular instance, and repetitive strain injuries caused by damaging continuous elbow joint motion.

The most common traumatic injuries we see from accidents normally involve slipping on a wet floor, tripping on a hazard, or falling from a height. These accidents can cause impact injuries to your elbow, particularly as your instincts tell you to put out your hands to stop your fall which can cause the damage to the elbow, or just landing on the elbow can cause severe damage. The most common injuries we see here for claims are fractures, dislocation, or nerve damage.

The most common repetitive strain injuries are incurred as result of sport related injuries – for example tendinitis, or more commonly known as tennis elbow, which is normally caused when the elbow joint is overused.
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Any injury can end up being debilitating – but when it’s a vital limb we use as part of our everyday lives, the things we are normally able to do can end up being severely restricted.

A trip over a dangerous hazard or a slip on a wet floor can leave you falling to the ground, and doing what we all do when we are falling – instinctively put out your arms to break your fall! Whilst this vital instinctive defensive mechanism can minimise the damage to your body, you are likely to suffer a hard knock at the very least, if not a break in any area of your arm caused by the impact of the fall.

The common injuries we see here are fractures and dislocations to the wrists, fingers, and elbows, unless you’re luck enough to escape with soft tissue damage instead. The soft tissue injuries you can get can be equally as damaging and may leave you feeling tender for quite some time. If you suffer from ligament damage you could be in an even worse position as many ligament ruptures can be impossible to repair, leaving you needing some from of reconstructive surgery.
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A lot of people rent properties nowadays – and a lot of people end up with difficulties with landlords. Whilst I am sure there are many decent and upstanding landlords out there, my experience with many of them is that they will try and charge you for anything that goes wrong in the house – even if it’s not your fault!

But one of the really important things is the health and safety behind renting a property. Your landlord has an extremely important duty to ensure that your health and safety is not jeopardised whilst you are living in the property. Regular systems of inspection and maintenance should be carried out by your landlord in order to uphold this.

Anything that is associated with the agreement you have is covered by the laws. If you rent a fully furnished place, then it’s not just the building itself that has to be safe for you to live in – it’s the fixtures that came with the property as well! What is your responsibility and the landlords responsibility should be clearly identified in your tenancy agreement, so you know who is responsible for what.
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Given that work takes up such a huge amount of our lives nowadays, we expect to be safe when working; i.e. not running in to any hazards whilst we get on with our jobs. Health and Safety in the workplace is of paramount importance, and employers must adhere to loads of rules and regulations to make sure employees do not come to harm whilst in the workplace.

Whilst differing rules and regulations apply more to varying areas of employment, one of the most basic areas of health and safety law that applies to any employment situation is tripping hazards!

We get a lot of enquiries from people looking to make compensation claims for tripping injuries at work. At the end of the day, it’s so easy to get caught out. A tile on the floor becomes raised and isn’t inspected or maintained regularly enough by the employer, and you have yourself an employee tripping over an obvious and dangerous defect. A colleague leaves some bags in a corridor and you walk straight in to them; the likelihood is you ending up on the floor, humiliated, and injured.
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Tripping accidents are relatively common – there are tonnes of hazards out there just waiting to, well literally, trip us up. If you have tripped over and want to know if you are due compensation for the injuries you have ended up with, you will need to contact a specialist personal injury lawyer to assess the case and perhaps take it on.

But in the meantime, here is a little advice about making a tripping accident claim and some facts you need to know about:

Who Is At Fault?
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Believe it or not the amount of accident which arise on or about stairwells are consistently increasing with each passing year. In light of this it is important to understand then that if you are ever so unfortunate as to suffer an injury on a flight of stairs and you are adamant that the accident occurred as a direct result of another parties negligence, you may have every right to bring a successful claim and as such recover adequate compensation for your injuries.

It is imperative to understand that the nature surrounding potential avenues to claim under defected stairwells are numerous. Let’s take the workplace for a predominant example. Under these circumstances the employer of any business which hires employees are under a direct legal obligation to ensure that any staircases within their establishment are compliant with all the necessary health and safety checks to ensure that they are adequately protected from any potential legal repercussion.

Such health and safety include providing an assurance that all staircases well lighted particularly in areas which are mostly susceptible to visual difficulty in addition to making sure that appropriate handrails are provided for ease of climbing and support. It is also worth mentioning that employers must carry out consistent checks to ensure that the stairwells are always safe for usage, it is not enough to test them once and believe that that is enough.
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It is a sad fact that on too many occasions, when an individual has an accident in a building or office which is open to the public, more often than not the natural reaction is one of uncontrollable panic and embarrassment – it is not enough that you have slipped over on the floor, but when it’s in front of everyone as well! It is important to understand however that it is at this point where you are at your most vulnerable; as such it is not uncommon for people to just want to forget about the situation and move on as quickly as possible.

In light of this, I cannot stress enough that this is the wrong decision to take, if you are ever unfortunate enough to suffer an injury either at work or in a public building as a result of slipping on some poorly maintained surface or flooring which is a direct result of the occupier or employers negligence. You may very well be able to claim for personal injury and your losses which, although may never be able to fully make up for the embarrassment a fall brings, will certainly hope to bring a quiet sense of justice and satisfaction for you.

It is important to realise that establishments such as supermarkets and public houses are all under a legal obligation to ensure for their patrons that their time spent in their establishment is not only a pleasant one, but also one that is safe and without negative consequence. Because of this, it is considered a legal requirement that regular inspections regarding the entirety of the establishment are carried out as and when required, providing assurances that any potential defects or hazards are dealt with as swiftly and efficiently as possible to ensure that visitor accidents are always kept to a minimum; therefore protecting the appropriate occupiers from any legal repercussions.
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