Winter
weather results in an increase in slip and fall injuries and employers are
being warned to take extra precautions.
According to the statistics from the National Safety Council, 34,000 people died at home and at work from slips and falls in 2016.
Employers
are being urged to take further action to prevent tragedy from occurring at
their places of business.
Are Slip and Fall Injuries
Increasing?
There
are worries that slip and fall injuries are going to continue to increase due
to harsh winter weather conditions. Additionally, there are more businesses and
more active employees than ever before. The US is currently experiencing
record-low unemployment numbers.
It’s
clear that regulations across New Jersey and the rest of the country have
prevented thousands of injuries every year. The financial penalties for
employers who don’t take appropriate action are significant and could cause
many small businesses to be wiped out.
This
has prompted them to act, particularly during the winter months.
More Awareness of the Dangers
are Needed
Steven
Benvenisti, a lawyer for Davis, Saperstein & Salomon P.C., has been
involved in a major accident in the past. He sustained life-changing injuries
when he was struck by a drunk-driver six weeks before graduating.
Today,
Steven specializes in providing help to people who have been injured, as well
as acting as a motivational speaker for a variety of medical associations,
legal conferences, and universities.
He
states, “It’s important that employers
remember that falls are 100% preventable. There is no excuse for employers not
to take the appropriate steps to protect employees and customers against
injuries on their premises.”
What Can Employers Do to
Reduce the Number of Slips and Falls?
Health
and safety officials, as well as the legal industry, are calling for employers
to educate themselves on the most common causes of slips and falls during the
winter months.
Basic
protections for anyone working at a place of business doesn’t need to be
expensive. It can be as simple as placing rock salt on the ground and ensuring
that parking lots are well-lit during dark hours.
The
legal industry is also warning that the penalties for employers who don’t heed
these warnings are huge. It could cost them tens of thousands of dollars if
someone slips and experiences a sprain or break.
How Can Employees Find Help
if They’re Involved in an Accident?
Steven
says, “There’s a statute of limitations
in every state on accidents in the workplace. For workers’ compensation cases
in New Jersey, this limit is two years.”
Employees
making a claim for a slip or fall in the workplace could be entitled to
thousands of dollars, rather than scrambling to find the money to cover their
medical bills.
With a
cold winter expected in New Jersey, knowing where to turn is vital for
employees when exercising their rights and entitlements.
In 2015, there were over 370,000 car crashes in Florida, which adds up to over a 1,000 per day. Add to that 2,939 fatalities and 159,795 injuries, besides over 200,00 instances of property damage. These huge numbers can really shock a person.
Given the millions of snowbirds and family vacationers touring the Sunshine State every year, a good deal of these frequent Floridian auto accidents will involve out-of-staters. It is good to familiarize yourself, therefore, with Florida’s auto accident and injury laws before your departure.
Here are 4 things to be aware of:
1. Out of State Auto Insurance
The first thing to realize is that whatever mandatory state minimums your home state imposes as to auto insurance, Florida’s standard of $10,000 PIP (personal injury protection) and $10,000 property damage liability (PDL) will apply. Insurers have cooperated across state lines to allow for these types of situations, so you don’t have to worry about your car insurance “not working” with an out of state claim.
2. First Steps After an Accident
As in all states, you are required to stop at the scene of the accident and to assist anyone who may be injured to the best of your ability. Often, that may mean calling 9-1-1. Conversely, if you are the injured party, the other motorist owes this duty to you.
In any accident where more than $500 of property damage or any bodily injuries take place, you must report the accident to the local police as soon as possible. And if your vehicle is blocking traffic, you must move it or get it towed away if you are in a condition to do so.
Getting in-state legal advice early on is also key. In Tampa Bay, for example, the Doan Law Firm has a reputation for guiding both Floridians and visitors through the legal steps necessary to collect compensation after an accident. Don’t bear the pain and costs of injury and a wrecked car needlessly when you are entitled to be reimbursed.
3. Florida’s Comparative Negligence Law
In Florida, personal injury law is not so simple as simply identifying “the” at-fault party and having him or her pay for all losses suffered by the wronged party. Instead, your claim will be equivalent to the percentage of fault assigned to the other driver (and vice versa).
Thus, if you are deemed by the judge to be 30% at fault and the other driver 70% at fault, you can only collect 70% of the losses you suffered. And you will have to pay 30% of any losses suffered by the “mostly at fault” driver.
Insurance companies and defendants know about this law and they use it to try to diminish your claim unfairly at times. That’s why you need a local Florida personal injury attorney on your side. A good lawyer with a track record of success will bring “clout” that will force all involved to “play fair.”
4. Florida’s No Fault Car Insurance Law
But in order to be able to file a claim at all, you have to qualify for an exception to this state’s no-fault car insurance statute. Your insurance will have to pay regardless of fault unless you suffer a serious personal injury or the damages go beyond what the insurance policy will cover.
A “serious” injury is one that is permanent, leaves permanent scars or disfigurement, or that results in the loss of a bodily function. If that sounds a little vague to you, it’s because it is, and it takes a good lawyer to know how these phrases in Florida’s car accident laws will be interpreted in an actual injury case.
Nobody wants to think about what might happen if they suffer a personal injury. You might have to take a few weeks off work, and that means you could struggle to pay your bills. You might also have to spend time in the hospital recovering from the incident. Unfortunately, we don’t have a free health care system in the US, and so those medical bills can become expensive. With that in mind, we wanted to spend some time highlighting the procedure you need to follow. When all’s said and done, you need the most compensation possible for your accident. So, you’ll have to conduct a lot of research and source the right information.
Evidence is the primary factor used to determine the level of compensation you receive. So, it makes sense to gather as much of it as possible. That means you might have to gain access to CCTV recordings or obtain medical reports from your doctor. You should also take photographs of any injuries you sustained. Ask for copies of x-rays, and always keep them safe. At some point, you will have to submit all that evidence to a specialist who will use it to fight your case. Without evidence, the chances of you receiving the level of compensation for which you are entitled are slim.
Taking a look at similar cases is also a sensible move if you want to increase your compensation rate. Judges will have a hard time awarding $5000 for an incident in which other people received more. If you have some case studies to hand, you can always appeal any decisions and get better outcomes. At the end of the day, you need to understand how much cash you stand to make before starting the process. You might discover that pushing ahead with your personal injury claim doesn’t make sense. You might also discover that you’re likely to get a small fortune. All that information will help you to make the right decisions during the early stages.
If you want to file a personal injury claim or lawsuit, there is lots of expert assistance available. You will have to pay for the aid, but it’s worth every dime. People working in that industry understand how claims progress through the court system. So, they are the best ones to ensure you get the money you deserve promptly. They will give advice on anything you can do to speed the process. They should also manage to get things sorted much more quickly than you could alone. Best of all? Some companies won’t expect you to pay their invoices until your claim is complete. That means you don’t need thousands of dollars in the bank to get things underway.
We hope you found that information useful, and that it will help you to get things right. You might get lucky and never have to deal with such an instance. However, statistics show that most people will find themselves entitled to compensation at some point in their lives. So, it’s better to prepare now and ensure you always take the appropriate action.
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