As a business owner, you certainly want to do your best to provide the best service possible to your customers. You may go out of your way to ensure that your products are reliable, prices reasonable and services hospitable. You may also do your best to ensure that your operations meet regulations in order to avoid legal issues in regard to running your business.
Even though you put your best efforts forward, you could still face legal issues if a person suffers injuries on your business’ premises. This type of situation could prove complicated, and you may not fully understand how liable you could be for such an incident. However, you and your business could suffer serious repercussions if a person files a claim against you.
Your liability
Your exact liability in this type of legal case may depend on the specific circumstances of your situation. However, in many cases, the law can hold a business owner liable for injuries that occur on the premises to customers, employees, other visitors or even trespassers in some cases. Of course, certain conditions must exist that rendered your premises unsafe and directly contributed to the injuries suffered.
How to protect your business
You certainly want to avoid landing in a situation in which a person could blame you or your company for injuries suffered on the premises. Luckily, you can take certain actions to help lessen the likelihood of such a claim or of having a person win a lawsuit against you. Some of those actions include:
- Inspecting your premises – Any type of unsafe condition, even a small one, could potentially harm someone. Therefore, you and your employees should inspect the premises periodically for any possible issues.
- Provide warnings – If you or an employee does discover a potential problem for which a quick fix does not exist, you need to provide warnings of the condition. Make sure that signs are in obvious view and that visitors are well aware of the problem.
- Fix the issues – After discovering an issue that needs correcting, you should make sure to fix the problem as soon as possible. The less time a problem exists, the less likely it may be for someone to suffer harm due to the condition.
You may also want to ensure that your employees understand and can recognize what could cause an issue. Though they may think that an upturned corner of an entry mat poses no issue, someone could easily trip and suffer injuries.
If someone does file a claim against you and your company, you may want to take appropriate measures to defend against it. Information on your legal options could help you determine your best course of action.
