Slip and Fall Accidents

Slip and fall accidents will injure thousands of Canadians this year. A number of people will die as a result of their injuries and several thousand people will suffer permanent disability. Most of the accidents are preventable, since the conditions that caused the accident are often the result of the property owner's negligent behaviour. The majority of the accidents will be the result of some defect on the premises arising from a lack of ordinary or reasonable maintenance.

There are four general types of slip and fall accidents:

Slip and fall accidents, in which the interface of the shoe and floor fails often caused by the presence of water/liquids on the floor surface;
Trip and fall accidents, where there is a foreign object in the walking path;
Stump and fall accidents, where there is an impediment in the walking surface;
Step and fall accidents, where there is an unexpected failure or hole in the walking surface.

The Law on Slip and Fall Accidents

There is a statute called Occupiers Liability Act ("Act") that governs the responsibilities of the "occupiers" of a property to individuals entering onto their property.
The Act defines "occupier" as "occupier" includes,

(a) a person who is in physical possession of premises, or

(b) a person who has responsibility for and control over the condition of premises or the activities there carried on, or control over persons allowed to enter the premises,

Duty of the "Occupier"

The Act states that "an occupier of premises owes a duty to take such as in all the circumstances of the case is reasonable to see that persons entering on the premises, and the property brought on the premises by those persons are reasonably safe while on the premises".
The occupier is not an absolute guarantor of safety for all visitors entering onto its premises. The reasonability of the occupier is only to take "such care as in all the circumstances of the case is reasonable".
Often, we look to the custom and practice of the industry to determine if "occupier" is following those customs and taking all the appropriate measures to ensure that the premises are safe for visitors.
You need to look at the totality of the all circumstances of the particular property (i.e. home catering to disabled people v. general store)

Burden of Proof

To prevail in a slip and fall case, an individual must establish that, on the balance of probabilities, their injury was caused as a result of a breach of the "occupier's" duty under the Act.
The individual must establish that a condition existed on the premises which created an unreasonable risk of harm.
The individual must show that the "occupier" knew or should have known of the hazard in time to reasonable abate the hazard or reduce the risk of injury by appropriate warning.
The individual must also show that the harm occurred while the property was being used in a reasonably foreseeable manner.
The law is very fact-driven and one needs look at all of the circumstances in determining whether an "occupier" is liable for an injury suffered by a visitor to its premises.
Bottom Line: Contact a lawyer as soon as you know you have a claim to get prompt advice on the steps necessary to protect your rights.

We encourage you to contact one of our lawyers who specialize in personal injury law to review the circumstances in your slip and fall accident and determine if you have a claim for your injuries.

Damages

A individual may be entitled to general damages for pain and suffering and special damages for injuries occurred as a result of a slip and fall accident. Unlike motor vehicle accidents, there is no threshold for injured persons to meet and there is no deductible to reduce the damages.

There are many types of damages available to injured victims of slip and fall accidents which include:

Non-pecunairy general damages (damages for pain and suffering and loss of enjoyment of life and loss of amenities)
Loss of income and loss of future income
Loss of competitive advantage
Loss of household and handyman capacity