It doesn’t take a person with a particularly pessimistic outlook these days to have a concern over the kind of accidents that can happen. Just reading and hearing about an accident that happens to someone in the public eye, someone you know, or an anecdotal account of an accident that happens in your local area, can lead to some catastrophic thinking. And, while accidents that cause major injury are rare, it is important to all of us to keep it that way by ensuring that safety is addressed at every turn.
Both in your home, and at work, there are always going to be potential hazards. And while you can never be 100% certain that you’re not going to end up needing the help of a firm of premises liability lawyers, it is always possible to do a bit more to prevent accidents from happening to you or to someone else. Below, we’ll go into some tips and advice on how the risk of accidents can be reduced, so that hopefully you can be safer on a day-to-day basis, wherever you are at the time.
Slips and trips
Perhaps the most common kind of everyday accident is when someone falls and gets injured either by impact with the ground, or by irregular movement of the body leading to torn muscles or ligaments. You can decrease the risk of falling by ensuring that the ground is free of hazards. This means keeping a clear pathway between access and exit points, keeping the ground free of tripping hazards, and by keeping the floor dry. Any spillages must be cleaned immediately, with cones placed around the wet patch if needed. Non-slip mats under any rugs are also a necessity, and if a carpet is not nailed or glued down in a particular area, this must be remedied to prevent it furling up and presenting a trip risk.
Poor lighting
You can’t evade what you can’t see. Many accidents in the modern day come as a result of ill-lit areas where it is harder to see a hazard, and reactions will inevitably be slower in the event of an obstacle getting in your way. It could be a poorly-lit stairwell at work, or even a family pet moving in front of you at home while you walk to the kitchen, but as far as possible you should avoid a situation where people are moving around in the dark. Even if you think the area is free of hazards, the dark presents a risk that shouldn’t be taken lightly.
Complacency and procrastination
How many times have you looked at something and thought: “That’s not right, that shouldn’t be there.” and then thought “Someone should do or say something about that/I’ll come back to that in a moment.”? Chances are, by the time someone slips, trips, falls or otherwise hurts themselves on a hazard, several others have already noticed the hazard and made a mental note to do something about it. The issue here is that from the moment you notice something to the moment you might do something about it, 101 things can happen to distract you. If you see something, say something - or, if you can, do something.
