Technically, slip-and-fall incidents can happen in many different areas around Indiana businesses. Some people fall in the produce section because of the phrase used to keep vegetables fresh that may have misted onto the floor. Other people could fall in a dry goods aisle because of spilled rice.
Leaks and other safety hazards can technically occur anywhere inside a business. During the winter months, people could potentially also fall in the parking lots of Indiana businesses if they do not properly remove ice and snow.
Despite the possibility of slip-and-falls occurring anywhere in or around businesses, quite a few slip-and-falls take place in the same general location. The entrance areas of businesses often host a disproportionate number of slip-and-falls. Why do people get hurt so often right when they walk into – or out of – a business?
Visitors track in dirt and precipitation
Most people brush and shake themselves off when they enter a building. Particularly if there has been snow or rain, people try not to track what they have on their coats, boots or shoes into the main part of the business. Their efforts to clean up in the entranceway often mean that water or snow melts could accumulate at a very high-traffic location in the business. Even during the warmer, dryer part of the year, dirt or sand brought in on the bottoms of people’s shoes can create slipping hazards right at the entrance of a business.
Rugs can sometimes do more harm than good
The snow, rainwater and dirt tracked in by patrons and other visitors is a known safety hazard, and businesses sometimes try to account for that by installing large, absorbent rugs. In theory, rugs can hold moisture and trap dirt, keeping the floors nearby clean.
In practice, rugs may not receive the attention that they require when they become dirty or saturated with fluid. Other times, they can become tripping hazards because the business does not properly anchor the rugs, meaning that they move when people shuffle their feet on the rugs. Without regular maintenance, rugs can exacerbate the very risk factor that businesses intend to resolve by putting them down by the front door.
Patrons who slip and fall near entrances sometimes don’t make it into a particular business to shop. However, they may need to make a point of notifying management about what just happened by the front door even as they prepare to leave. Reporting a slip-and-fall after it occurs may help someone hold the business accountable if they incur medical expenses or lost wages triggered by their slip-and-fall injuries.