What do visitors, customers, vendors, and employees on your business premises have in common? They all pose a risk of potential injuries resulting from slips, trips, and falls. While this is a year-round concern, and depending on your location, wintertime is an especially vulnerable time of year.
According to the National Safety Council, falls are the third leading cause of unintentional death in the United States. As a property owner or manager, it’s imperative to have a plan in place to protect and prepare against slip and fall losses. .
The following tips are from our company partner, Travelers Insurance Company:
- Develop and implement a written snow and ice removal plan.
- Determine who the responsible individual or team will be to carry out a plan for a safe property. They should be in charge of selecting contractors and communicating with them, maintaining removal logs, and proper claim handling practices.
- This team or individual could also be responsible for monitoring weather conditions, walking surfaces, and effectiveness or removal practices.
- Determine if the snow and ice removal will be carried out by in-house personnel or by an outside contractor.
- If you decide to use the services of an outside contractor, they should be selected on their expertise, response times and capabilities.
- Be sure to verify proper liability insurance coverage of any contractor. Obtain and review certificates and contracts annually, and there should be a cancellation of liability insurance notice requirement in the contract.
- If your employees perform the snow removal work, provide the right training and equipment.
- Perform incident investigations promptly.
- Put the plan into action.
- Prioritize the conditions of high-risk and high-traffic areas such as walkways, slopes, or uneven surfaces. Monitor inside areas for wet floors and clean up accordingly.
- Provide well-lit areas and ensure curbs, grates, stairs, and fire hydrants are easily accessible and noticeable.
- Jurisdictional considerations.
- Property owners should know the requirements of the municipality in which they own and manage property. Consulting an attorney and municipal authorities can help you better understand your rights and obligations and make the appropriate decisions to protect your customers, employees, business and the public.
Are you properly insured and educated on how to handle a claim on your business property? Give our commercial lines team a call to learn more.
