Who is responsible in slip and fall injuries?

Who is responsible in slip and fall injuries? is a post from: http://www.personalinjurylawyercalgaryinc.ca/

Every year thousands of people are injured by slipping or falling. This often raises the question of who is responsible? Sometimes the property owner is responsible if someone slips on damaged stairs, or a wet floor in their property. But this is not always the case.

If you have sustained an injury in this manner, first realize that it is normal for surfaces to become potentially hazardous. Also, obstacles on the ground and other potentially dangerous situations are always present, and often need to be there – like drainage pipes for example. So the owner of a property cannot always be held entirely responsible. It is not always possible to immediately dry a wet surface, or prevent someone tripping on an obstacle that should be there. Everyone has an obligation to exercise proper care and attention wherever they go.

Property owners do have to take care of their properties however. There is never a clear process to determine if someone else is legally responsible when someone falls, or slips. The case is often determined on how carefully the property owner acted, how likely it was that someone would have an accident, and whether or not anyone else was at fault.

To be held legally responsible for injuries suffered as a result of a trip, or a fall at someone else’s property, one of the following statements must be true:

• The owner of the property would have know of the danger and did not take adequate care in ensuring the risk was dealt with. A ‘’reasonable’’ person would reduce the risk presented.
• The owner of the property knew about the danger that was present but chose to do nothing about it.
• The owner of the property cause the dangerous surface or hazards themselves.

Judges use these statements as criteria to determine if the owner of the property is responsible for injuries cause to people on their premises.