program is a plan that incorporates cleaning and treatment
products designed for safety and proven slip resistance. An
established cleaning/maintenance program, should include proper
inspections, warning signs and the use of safety maintenance
logs that document the date, time and procedures involved in the
floor cleaning/maintenance.
This safety plan and the demonstration of due
diligence and reasonable care is designed to prevent the
accident from occurring in first place and to create a line of
defense against injury claims and lawsuits. However, an accident
is “an event that takes place without one’s foresight or
expectation.” The courts recognize that an accident can happen.
If a slip/fall accident occurs, what would you do? Are your
personnel prepared? The following steps outline the key areas to
address in order to be ready.
1. Before the accident - Train your accident
response team personnel. A sufficient number of employees should
be trained and assigned to handle any slip and fall accidents
that may occur. These specially trained personnel should be
thoroughly familiar
in
handling and responding to slip/fall accidents.
If an accident occurs:
2. Immediately get your trained personnel to the
site of the slip and fall accident. A slip/fall accident can be
a physically and emotionally stressful event. Your trained
personnel need to be there to give comfort and aid to the person
that has fallen.
3. Your trained employees should speak with a
calm manner and express concern for the accident victim. Ask
general questions regarding the injury like “Are you OK?” Or,
“Are you hurt?” instead of specific questions like “Is your neck
sprained?” In the conversation, never talk about blame fault, or
litigation.
4. Analyze the condition of the person who has
fallen. If the accident victim has an obvious injury or if they
complain of discomfort or pain, then ask them to remain still.
Do NOT move an injured person. Immediately send for medical
personnel and give assurance to the individual who is injured
that help is on the way.
5. Wait with the accident victim until medical
help arrives. Offer verbal support and try to make the injured
person as comfortable as possible.
6. If the accident victim is unconscious, do NOT
move them. If consciousness returns while waiting for medical
personnel, assist in getting the fallen person reoriented. Tell
the person what happened and where they are. Give the accident
victim assurances that you are there to help them.
7. Keep crowds as far away as possible. Except
for emergency personnel and anyone who was with the fallen
person at the time of the accident, do not allow any people to
talk with the accident victim. Keeping crowds away will also
reduce the feelings of embarrassment and confusion that the
accident victim may be experiencing.
8. Attend to the needs of the person who has
fallen. Vomit or release of other bodily fluids may occur with
the accident victim. Clean up the vomit immediately and cover
the person with a blanket if the accident victim’s clothes are
wet. Be sure that you and all other employees assisting you do
not display discomfort or displeasure to the accident victim.
Displays of such discomfort by your personnel may leave
unpleasant or hostile memories in the mind of the accident
victim. These are embarrassing situations and the demonstration
of sensitivity to the accident victim can alter their perception
of the facility and may reduce the potential for legal action.
9. Try to determine the cause of the slip and
fall accident. While a trained employee stays with the accident
victim, other trained employees should take witnesses aside and
write down their names, addresses and accounts of the accident.
Did the person slip? Did the person trip? Is there any evidence
of a medical condition or seizure? Did the person faint?
Document any reports of unusual behavior before the accident.
10. Your trained employees of your slip/fall
response team should notice if the accident victim’s body
movements support the complaints of their pain? For example, if
the accident victim can easily move their arm, then these
actions would not seem to support complaints of arm or shoulder
pain. If the accident victim can easily pick up clothing or
other articles from the floor, then these actions would not seem
to support a back complaint. Or, if there are complaints of a
neck pain, and the accident victim has rapid head and neck
turning, then such movement would not seem to support the neck
complaint.
During all of the above activities in response
to the slip/fall accident, all of your specially trained
accident response team should Pay Attention, Remember, and Write
Down their findings
11. Pay Attention to the conditions in the area
at the time of the accident? Was the floor wet? What was the
source of the wetness; from outside or inside? Is there any
debris on the floor? What type of shoes did the accident victim
wear; running shoes, high heels, etc.? What was the type of sole
on the shoe: leather, plastic, wood, rubber, etc.? Was the
accident victim wearing loose or long floppy clothing that may
have caused a trip? Were the accident victim’s shoelaces tied?
Remember all of the conditions that you observe
in the area. Notice the time of day of the accident. What were
the accident victim’s complaints and whether the movements do or
do not support the complaints? What is the weather condition
outside?
Write down everything that you noticed: All of
the observations should be written down. Record the names,
addresses, and reports of the accident by any witnesses. Write
everything that you have seen or that you can remember, even the
little things that may not appear to be important at the time
should be documented.
According to the insurance industry data, about
10 percent of slip and fall incidents are fraud. The information
that is observed and written down by your accident response team
can help support your line of defense against any claims,
lawsuits or fraud. Conversely, such a statistic also means that
approximately 90 percent of the slip/fall incidents are, by the
definition of the word, accidents.
Someone has fallen, and the accident involves a
customer, visitor, employee, or person who could be a casualty
in this unplanned and unforeseen event. Whoever that accident
victim is, they are involved in an unfortunate set of
circumstances that resulted in this often-painful event. The
facility response to the accident and the properhandling/comfort
of the accident victim is the first step in the road to their
recovery. ❑
