Slip and Falls at Restaurants: What You Should Know

When you head out to a restaurant, your main intention is to have a nice meal, maybe a few drinks, and good times with friends or family. But sometimes, this just doesn’t happen. Sometimes, when you walk into the bathroom or even leave your car to go into the restaurant, you slip, fall, and injure yourself. When this happens, you may have a lawsuit on your hands.

In case you didn’t know, slip and falls are the second leading cause of accidental injuries in the United States today, right behind car accidents. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, more than 800,000 patients are hospital each year because of a fall injury, most often because if a head injury or hip fracture. In fact, one out of five falls can cause a serious injury such as a broken bone. And restaurants are one of the most common places for slip and fall accidents occur.

Not only do customers experience injuries, but restaurant employees are just at risk. According to the National Floor Safety Institute, falls accounted for 5 percent of the job-related fatalities for women and 11 percent for men. And although slip and falls are not the leading cause of fatalities in the workplace, they are the leading cause in workers’ compensation claims and represent a primary cause of lost days at work.

What causes a slip and fall accident at a restaurant? Here are five main reasons:

• Food and drink spill in a high-risk area such as the restaurant’s entranceway, dishwasher area, cooking station, and entrance to the kitchen. And if you go to a buffet, watch out — food and drink spills are usually not cleaned up quickly in this area.
• A change in the floor’s surface, such as a change in elevation, torn carpet and cracked titles.
• Poor lighting makes it hard to see in both the restaurant and outside in the parking lot.
• The parking lot and sidewalks around the restaurant, especially during the wintertime with snow and ice. But cracks in the pavement can also become a hazard for those who aren’t looking where they’re going.
• Stairways that are not properly maintained, such as a broken stair or shaky handrails.

If you slip and fall at a restaurant in Jersey City, you may be considering litigation. If so, you’re going to need legal advice on how to proceed. We can help. Contact the Law Offices of Anthony Carbone today for a free consultation.