What to do when you’ve been injured in a slip & fall

When someone has a slip & fall or trip & fall accident, they can sustain very severe injuries. An accident like this can happen inside or outside and injuries sustained can not only be costly but long-lasting. It’s not unusual to have lifelong effects from a slip and fall accident. Slips and trips can happen in other ways, too. For example, poor lighting, uneven floors, a broken staircase or handrail or pothole in a parking lot can be the cause of a severe, painful injury.
The owner of a property has what is called a “duty of care to make sure their property is safe. However, when they are negligent in doing so – they didn’t clear a spill in the supermarket aisle, they mopped a floor and didn’t put up a warning sign for customers or items fell from a shelf and no one restacked the products – your slip & fall may have been do to someone else’s negligence behavior.

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If you are injured in a slip and fall or trip and fall accident, collect the following information so your personal injury lawyer can protect your rights and try to get you compensated for your injuries.

1. Focus on your injury first. Call the police and get medical attention if appropriate.
2. Get the names, phone numbers and addresses of all witnesses.
3. Write down the names of store employees who may have seen what happened to you or can verify the dangerous condition (spilled liquid, for example.)
4. Take photos of the scene of the accident. If you don’t have a cell phone on you, and there is no one who can lend you a phone to take photos, buy a disposable camera. Photos are extremely important because the dangerous condition that caused your injuries can be mopped up, wiped up, restacked, etc. very quickly – erasing all the evidence.
5. Take notes on everything you see. Note sizes, colors, shapes and locations of all objects that impacted your accident.

While you will likely need to report the accident and conditions that caused your injuries to the store manager or the property owner, it’s important to remember that they are not on your side. They may seem very nice and they certainly may legitimately care about your injuries. However, their allegiance is to their employer’s pocketbook – not you.
If approached by anyone from the store, get their information and give your information, as well. Do not, however, share any specific details about your injuries before talking to an experienced slip and fall lawyer.
Contact a skilled slip & fall attorney at Team Law right away about your premises liability case. No matter how minor the accident may be, you should still have someone looking out for your rights.