Category: Premises Liability

What can parents do to help keep their child safe on escalators?

Young children may find escalators to be a very exciting way to get from one place to another. However, escalators can pose dangers to kids under certain circumstances. Certain things could put a child at risk of falling or getting caught while on an escalator. Such accidents could severely harm a child.

So, one thing parents might wonder is what they can do to help keep escalator rides a safe experience for their kids. Among the things parents can do to try to reduce the chances of their child getting into an accident while on such a device are:

• Keeping things like strollers off of escalators.
• Talking to their kids about safe escalator use. Examples of rules parents may want to set for their kids for escalator use are: always be careful when getting on or off an escalator, always face forward when riding an escalator, always hold the handrail and never touch the escalator’s sides below the handrail.
• If their kids are young, closely supervising them when they are on an escalator.

Now, there are things that are generally outside of a parent’s control that can impact how safe their kids are during a given escalator ride. One of these is the overall condition of the escalator. This is among the reasons why property owners keeping escalators on their property in good repair is of such great importance. Failures on this front very well could put kids in danger.

Skilled Accident Attorneys can assist parents of children hurt on escalators with navigating legal matters related to the accident, like possible claims against a property owner or other party.

Source: Safety+Health, “Safe T Boy and Safe T Girl share elevator/escalator tips,” Oct. 16, 2015

Safety risks for joggers

Jogging is a very popular activity here in New York. Sadly, there are things that could cause what started as a regular jog to turn into a harrowing, and possibly injury-causing, experience for a person.

Safety risks for joggers come in many different varieties. One thing that can endanger a jogger is the sidewalks they are using not being properly maintained. Problems with a sidewalk could cause a person to fall when jogging. For example, if a sidewalk is cracked, a jogger’s foot could catch on the crack, causing them to trip and lose their balance. Such a fall could inflict significant injuries on a jogger. Experienced attorneys can help joggers who were hurt because a sidewalk was negligently maintained with their efforts to hold the parties responsible for the sidewalk’s maintenance accountable for what happened.

Another safety risk a jogger could face is unwanted conduct from another person. One such type of conduct is harassment.

Sadly, it appears that harassment is something many female joggers face. Experiencing harassment some of the time or more often when out running is something 43 percent of women report, a recent survey suggests.

And while male joggers being harassed isn’t as common, it does still happen. According to the survey, experiencing harassment at least some of the time when jogging is something around 4 percent of men face.

In addition to the emotional harm harassment can cause, it could also end up exposing a jogger to physical injuries. For one, harassment could distract a runner, upping the chances of them tripping.

Also, harassment can sometimes lead to the perpetrator taking even more aggressive and malicious action toward a jogger.

What can a jogger do to try to keep safe from unwelcome/malicious conduct by others? There are a variety of things a jogger may find helpful on this front, including:

• Coming up with an advanced plan for responding to possible safety risks.
• Knowing the characteristics of the route they are running.
• Keeping their jogging route away from areas where it would be easy for people to hide.
• Sticking to well-lit areas.
• Carrying a whistle with them.
• Staying off of headphones.
• Taking a confident posture when running.
• Using GPS tracking.
• Calling authorities if they encounter or spot anything suspicious.

What would you add to this list?

Robots: The security guards of the future?

Machines have been taking on more and more roles traditionally served by humans. It appears security guard is among these roles.

Take, for example, a security robot that was recently unveiled and which is going out onto the market. The robot is called the Sharp Intellos Automated Unmanned Ground Vehicle.

The vehicle is designed to patrol premises. It can run its patrols in a standardized or randomized way, depending on the setting used. It is designed to be automated, but is still capable of being controlled manually.

The robot contains numerous cameras (including a thermal imaging camera). It can send the images it collects and alerts of anything out-of-the-ordinary it detects to a command center for review. It can also issue vocalized warnings when it detects an individual in a secure area.

Among the advantages an official with the company behind the robot argued that the robot would have are that it could allow for security patrols to be done without exposing a human guard to the potential of harm and that its cameras would give it superior detection abilities compared to human guards. The official also said that the cost of the robot would either be in the same area as or lower than the expenses that would go along with hiring a human security guard.

Currently, many businesses hire human security guards to patrol their premises to help keep the premises and those on it safe. One wonders if robot security guards, like the above-mentioned one, might someday largely replace human security guards in this task.

There are some questions worth considering when it comes to the possibility of security robots playing a larger role in the security strategy of businesses in the future. One is: What effects would such a trend have on how safe business premises are for visitors? Another is: What would the liability situation be if someone got hurt because of something going wrong with a robot security guard (such as the robot missing a security threat it should have detected or the robot accidentally causing injuries to a visitor)?

So, there could be various safety and legal issues brought up by the entrance of robots into the field of security patrols at businesses.

Source: Connecticut Post, “Autonomous security robot unveiled in Bridgeport,” Keila Torres Ocasio, Oct. 17, 2016

A world without stairs?

Stairs are a common feature in many buildings here in New York. While stairs have many things going for them as a way to get from one floor to another, they are certainly not without their downsides. Examples of some of the more negative aspects of stairs are that:

• They can take up a lot of space.
• The effort and time they take to climb can make them an impractical way to get around in particularly tall buildings.
• The costs of installing them can get high.
• They can pose safety risks.

One of the big safety risks that can come up in relation to stairs is the risk of a person falling while using them. Many things can impact the chances of such accidents happening, including whether the stairs are in good repair. When a person is injured as a result of falling down a set of stairs, skilled attorneys can assist them in investigating whether their fall was the result of any negligent maintenance regarding the stairway. They can also provide such individuals with guidance regarding their options for pursuing injury compensation.

With stairs being such a common feature, one might just assume that stairs are an inevitable part of a multi-floor world. However, might the future see stairs become obsolete?

There have been efforts to come up with alternatives for multi-floor travel that would overcome the shortcomings of stairs and other currently available methods. One such effort is the recently developed Vertical Walking system.

The system was developed by a design lab in the Netherlands. It is currently in the prototype stage. The system includes upright rails and a platform with a seat on it. It contains pulleys, elasticized ropes and gripping systems that are designed to allow a person to use their own power to move the platform up and down between floors. The designers claim that using the system requires only around 10 percent of the physical exertion that climbing stairs involves. It also purportedly could be used for travel covering a large number of floors. Additionally, as it would be human-powered, it wouldn’t need the power sources that stair alternatives like elevators require.

What are your thoughts on this prototype system? Do you think such a system and ones like it could someday lead to a largely stair-free world? What do you think such a world would mean safety-wise?

The mental and emotional benefits of walking

Walking has numerous benefits. For one, it can be a very good way to get physical exercise. Research indicates that the upsides of walking are not just limited to the physical, however. Studies have pointed to walking yielding several different types of mental and emotional benefits.

Among the things research has suggested that walking has the potential to improve for people in the mental/emotional realm are:

• Connectivity between brain cells.
• Creativity.
• Mood.
• Working memory.

The many positive impacts, including mental/emotional impacts, walking can have underscore how important it is for people to have safe places to walk. One of the main aims of sidewalks is to provide pedestrians with such a place. However, while sidewalks can help keep pedestrians safe from cars, they can have their own safety hazards attached to them when they are not properly maintained.

For example, certain things could up the risks of pedestrians tripping/slipping and falling while on a sidewalk, including the sidewalk being: slippery due to snow or ice, uneven, cracked or broken. Falls on sidewalks can cause pedestrians to suffer broken bones, tendon injuries, muscle strains or other injuries. This underscores how important it is for the parties that are responsible for keeping a given sidewalk properly maintained to follow through on their responsibilities.

When a person is injured in a fall on a sidewalk, and suspects that their fall was caused by the sidewalk being improperly maintained, skilled attorneys can help them with looking into evidence on the condition of the sidewalk and the circumstances around the fall. They can also help them with building a legal case against the at-fault parties in the incident.

Source: Forbes, “Six Reasons Why Walking Is The Daily Brain Medicine We Really Need,” David DiSalvo, Oct. 30, 2016

The many causes of indoor slip-and-fall accidents

As one of our New York City readers, there’s a good chance that your own two feet are your primary mode of transportation. Unfortunately, there are times when pedestrians are involved in a serious accident that leads to injury or even death.

In addition to pedestrian-car accidents, you should never overlook the fact that an indoor slip and fall can be extremely dangerous. You might think cars pose the biggest threat to pedestrians, but you shouldn’t overlook the dangers of indoor slip-and-falls.

When you visit an office building, retail location or any other indoor environment, you hope that you never face a safety concern. But there’s no way of knowing for sure, which is why accidents happen.

2 top causes

There are many reasons for indoor slip-and-fall accidents. Furthermore, these often occur in one of two places:

1. Floors

It goes without saying that property owners are expected to clean, mop and polish their floors. They do this to keep them clean, to keep them looking good and to hopefully avoid an accident.

The problem with this is simple: Wet floors can be extremely dangerous, especially when people expect them to be dry.

A property owner may be held responsible for an accident if it results from:

• Failure to provide warning, such as through the use of a sign, that the floor is wet
• Failure to block off areas that could be considered dangerous
• Applying wax or polish unevenly or using too much of the product
• Neglecting to use a non-skid product when necessary
• Carpet that is worn or bulging
• Mats or rugs with curled edges, thus acting as a trip hazard

2. Stairs

Stairs can be extremely dangerous, especially when they aren’t cared for in the appropriate manner. Stairway accidents can result from:

• Missing stairs
• Inadequate lighting
• A step that is worn
• Debris on the stairs, including paper
• A broken or missing handrail
• Stairs that have been polished or waxed, thus making them slippery
• Stairs that do not have the appropriate non-skid surface

As a pedestrian, you don’t spend much time watching the ground in front of you. Instead, your eyes are straight ahead and you assume that the floor and stairs are in good condition.

Unfortunately, there are times when this isn’t the case, which ultimately leads to a slip-and-fall accident.

If you’re involved in such an accident, don’t rush to move. Instead, call for help to ensure that you receive immediate medical attention. You can then learn more about your legal rights, such as the opportunity to receive compensation for medical costs, pain and suffering, lost wages and more.