Trips and slips are common place in the workplace. Unfortunately, this means that injuries are a regular occurrence.Employers are under a duty under regulation 12 of the Workplace, Health and Safety regulations 1992 to make sure as follows:
1) Every floor in a workplace and the surface of every traffic route in a workplace shall be of a construction such that the floor or surface of the traffic route is suitable for the purpose for which it is used.
This might seem a bit unclear. What constitutes being ‘suitable for the purpose for which it is used’?
It might appear obvious from one of the many personal injury adverts on the television that a wet floor is an unsuitable surface but what else might fall in to the bracket? A good example as a guide would be the case of Palmer v Marks & Spencer plc. In this case, the claimant tripped over a weather strip in a doorway. The Court of Appeal, although deciding that the raised strip of a height of between 8mm and 9.5mm was not unsuitable, raised the point that the matter of the background under which the accident occurs is exceptionally important.
So, in some circumstances it may well be that a mat, holes or even an undulating floor might constitute an area of floor which is not suitable for the purpose for which it is used, but in others it might be that it doesn’t. With the law as clear as that, it is important to have an expert to help guide you through your claim. If you contact the injury lawyers we can provide you with free advice as to whether you have a claim.
