Articles Posted in Premises Liability

Serious household injuries are more common than one might think. In fact, more than 10 million individuals every year visit the emergency room as a result of injuries occurring on their residential property. These residential injuries account for more than 6 million or more insurance claims every year, where victims are seeking financial recompense for their medical expenses, lost time away from work, pain, suffering, mental anxiety and other types of damages and losses.

Common Types of Household Injuries Involving Guests

The most common forms of household injuries involve slip and fall accidents, drug overdoses, backyard drownings, electrical burns and dog attacks. Many residents and visitors are injured every year in slip and fall accidents by falling from ladders, falling downstairs and slipping on spilled liquids and slippery surfaces.

Trip and fall accidents happen all too often and typically end with serious injuries. When these kinds of accidents are caused by the negligence, carelessness or recklessness of others, victims often seek legal recourse for compensation. Common areas were trip and fall accidents occur include ramp ways, doorways, uneven surfaces, heavy traffic areas, stairways, unstable working surfaces, unguarded heights and outdoors on slippery or wet surfaces caused by ice, snow or rain.

Hundreds of thousands of individuals in the U.S. suffer a serious injury from a trip and fall accident each year. In fact, nearly 40 victims – mostly the elderly – die each day of a slip and fall accident. Even though these are common occurrences, only a few trip and fall claims and lawsuits are ever filed and resolved. Out of that, only a handful of victim cases that are finally heard by a judge and jury are ever resolved successfully. This is because trip and fall cases are often more challenging than many individuals think.

Proving the Facts

If you have fallen down the stairway, you are likely suffering serious injuries. This is because as your body fell, it had the potential of striking many hard surfaces before the falling stopped. As a result of your injuries, you are likely facing extensive medical bills, time away from work and financial obligations that are difficult to meet. So exactly what are your legal options for seeking recompense to pay your bills and recoup your lost wages?

Both indoor and outdoor stairway accidents are common occurrences for a trip and fall incident. When a stairway accident happens on another’s property, victims have the legal right to seek damages. This is because many stairway slips and falls can be prevented by the property owner, manager, landlord or occupant. Many of the preventable reasons that individuals fall on stairs, steps and stairwells involve:

• Collapsing or crooked stairways

Every year, hundreds of thousands of individuals suffer serious injuries in accidents that occur on public and private property. In many of these cases, problems with premises liability arise concerning the building’s design, construction and compliance with complex local, state and national building codes.

Building codes are essential to designing and constructing safe buildings and facilities. These minimum standards must be followed to create a safe environment for occupants and visitors. There are building codes for every facet of construction from the foundation to the rooftop. The codes regulate materials, components, design and building practices to ensure the durability and safety of the structure and its systems including mechanical, electrical and plumbing.

Additionally, building codes involve the installation of the buildings fire sprinklers, energy uses, emergency escapes, ADA compliance, exit signs, smoke detectors, elevators and accessibility. In addition to establishing building codes, the state also takes various means to enforce the codes and punish violators. Common violations often involve structural defects, missing exit signs, dangerous stairways, leaky gas fittings, faulty electrical wiring, malfunctioning sprinkler systems and absent emergency lighting.