Slip and Fall Accidents: In Grocery and Convenience Stores
Slips and falls account for about one million emergency room visits each year. Many of these falls occur while we're out shopping.
NEW YORK, NY, September 19, 2012
Almost everyone visits a grocery or convenience store each week. In fact, about 100,000 Americans visit convenience stores every day. When we make these visits, our minds are almost always on the items we plan to buy or on our remaining errands for the day. We rarely think about slipping and falling while shopping.However, according to the National Floor Safety Institute, slips and falls account for about one million emergency room visits each year. Many of these falls occur while we're shopping or handling other mundane activities.
The following list has been put together to help everyone avoid the many slip-and-fall hazards present in food stores every day.
Hidden Dangers Present in Grocery and Convenience Stores
- Slippery Floors and Fallen Display Items. Always scan the floor surface of each aisle as you enter, looking for dangerous safety issues. Delivery people, as well as other shoppers and their children, often accidentally spill various fluids or hard good items that can easily cause unsuspecting shoppers to fall;
- High Shelving in Warehouse Stores. Special news segments on national and local TV channels have featured stories about shoppers seriously injured when tall shelves full of large items have fallen on shoppers, often causing serious injuries;
- Malfunctioning and Improperly Used Shopping Carts. Every year, many children and adults require emergency room treatment after tripping behind these carts or having children fall out of them. Some shoppers and their kids even suffer lacerated or broken fingers (and toes) after using these carts improperly;
- Broken Glass and Toxic Substances. Although store managers and employees frequently walk down most store aisles looking for dangerous spills, many shoppers still get cut on broken glass bottles lying in aisles - or slip on lighter fluid, antifreeze and other liquid car products that have fallen and spilled onto floors. Always avoid wearing "flip flops" or open sandals in grocery stores;
- Poorly Managed Open Food Counters. All kinds of meats, vegetables, salads and other foods routinely fall from these counters, causing shoppers to fall;
- Improper or Infrequent Floor Cleaning. Although most large grocery store chains schedule regular cleaning and maintenance, some forget and leave dirty floor surfaces that cause unsuspecting customers to fall.
If all of us will keep these floor surface and general dangers in mind while shopping in food stores, we can avoid becoming one of the thousands of people who are seriously injured by slipping and falling in these stores each year.
Rosenberg, Minc, Falkoff & Wolff, LLP
122 E. 42nd Street, Suite 3800
New York, NY 10168
Telephone: 212-863-9101, 212-925-0909
http://www.nycaccident.com