Slip, Trip, and Fall
Slip and fall injuries are much more common than most people would think, and despite the negative connotation that is often attached to this sort of legal claim, the fact is that the injuries that result from these occurrences are often extremely serious. Thousands of people are killed every year in slip and fall situations, and if this has happened to you, you’ll need the help of an experienced slip and fall attorney.
Different types of slip and fall accidents
Slip and fall accidents can occur at any time and in almost any place, but there are situations in which these accidents occur more often than others.
Examples of these contexts include:
- The workplace
- At the business of another
- At a sporting event
- At a concert or musical event
- In a crowded public place
- At home
- At the home of another
- In icy conditions
- At retail outlets
Each of these situations present different types of legal liability questions, and below is a look at a few of the different negligence standards that could apply.
Negligence standards – slip and fall
In order to decipher which negligence standard should apply to a slip and fall situation, the nature of the person’s presence on the property of someone else needs to be defined. For instance, if someone is in the workplace and he or she falls and is injured because of the presence of a dangerous condition, then that injured worker could have two legal options.
These options would include filing a worker’s compensation claim, as Pennsylvania law clearly provides benefits to those workers who are injured at the site through no fault of their own. The other option could be a legal claim for negligence, which would fall into the different categories of legal statuses that are described below.
If someone is injured on the property of another and is not there as a worksite location, the first question that must be answered is which legal status applies to the injured party. They are briefly described below:
- Invitee – An invitee is someone who is invited, either expressly or through implied consent, onto the property of another for business purposes. An invitee is entitled to a high degree of protection from the property’s possessor, and this includes the right to be protected from dangerous conditions and/or to be warned of their presence if they cannot reasonably be repaired.
- Licensee – A licensee is someone who is invited onto the property of another for non-business purposes, and this would include social occasions. As is the case with the invitee, the licensee is entitled to protection from dangerous conditions or to be warned of them if they exist and cannot reasonably be discovered by the licensee.
- Trespasser – A trespasser is someone who enters the property of another without permission, and as a result is not owed a duty of protection from dangerous conditions. However, there are exceptions, and they include the fact that the trespasser must not be foreseeable by the property’s possessor and that the property should not contain an attractive nuisance that’s likely to attract trespassers.
Slip and fall injury lawyers
As you can see, slip and fall injuries are a serious problem, and pursuing a legal claim for injuries suffered in these situations can be complicated. As a result, if you or someone you love has been injured in a slip and fall accident, you need to contact the attorneys at the Palkovitz Law Office Traffic Law Center today to schedule a free initial consultation.
