Have you experienced slipping and falling in public places supposed to be safe and protected for passersby? Or have you witnessed someone slipping and falling down? In such accidents, who do you think is to blame?
A slip and fall accident can cause grievous harm to the victim. Sustaining injuries from such accidents call for serious action. First and foremost, the fact of who is responsible must be established. With regards to this, several legislations have been introduced to properly determine such issues.
When the Occupiers Liability Act of 1957 was passed, it was not only for cases of slip and fall accidents. It’s main purpose is to ascertain the “whether any duty is owed by a person as occupier of premises to persons other than his visitors in respect of any risk of their suffering injury on the premises by reason any danger due to the state of the premises or to things done or omitted to be done on them.”
Furthermore, according to this law, the occupier of any premises has responsibility or duty for any such risks. Therefore, he must make sure that the risk is in all conditions if the slip and fall accident case and that he is practically expected to offer necessary protection. Next point is that the occupier has to know or reason to believe that someone is in the area of danger or may come into a dangerous area. This applies whether or not the person who went into the occupier’s premises has lawful authority to be there or not. Third, the occupier has knowledge or reasonable grounds to believe that a certain area in his premises is dangerous or unsafe. The Act also takes into consideration a “duty of care”. This is established in a passage in the said law stating that “common duty is to take such care as in all the circumstances of the case is reasonable to see that the visitor will be reasonably safe in using the premises for the purposes for which he is invited or permitted by the occupier to be there”.
In simple terms, the Act defines the occupier as someone who is aware of their responsibility for any carelessness or failure to secure a certain place that would cause injury to a visitor or passersby. They know that any visitor must be kept reasonably protected from potential slip and fall accidents while they are on the premises. They must apply certain steps to avoid such accidents. Meanwhile, landlords, as an occupier of premises, are bound under the Defective Premises Act of 1972. According this Act, the landlord of premises has an obligation to conduct repairs and maintenance as steps to avoid potential slip and fall situations. It is stated clearly that landlords have a duty to any persons who become affected by defects on their premises. However, if the occupier has reason to believe that sloppy workmanship by an independent contractor or some other factor have relevant liability or negligence on a slip and fall accident case on his premises, he can use this as a statutory defense. This may remove his liability to a victim and places the blame on another.
If the slip and fall accident involves children, reasonable care on the part of the adults will be questioned. Establishments where the accident occurred, like schools, have particular obligations also. In slip and fall accident cases, the law always gives reasonable protection to both parties involved while determining responsibility for the injury sustained.