Who's Responsible For Slip and Falls

It happens to the best of us: Wham, bam, before you know what happened, you may be laying on the ground after slipping, tripping and/or falling. In these cases, the question may arise as to who may be responsible and what may be done about it. You may ask yourself, "Do I need a personal injury attorney?" Fortunately, most often the only thing injured is our ego. However, sometimes serious injuries can occur as a result of a slip, trip or fall.

Owners of stores, office buildings, restaurants, landlords, and businesses are not expected to ensure or cover any accident or injury that occurs on their premises. Rather, they may be liable only when they fail in their duty to use "reasonable care" in protecting their patrons or tenants from accident. More particular, Utah courts have recognized two legal theories under which an injured person may recover against a business owner in a slip and fall accident.

The first theory applies in cases involving an unsafe condition of a temporary nature such as a slippery substance on a floor. The Supreme Court of Utah explains in the case of Schnuphse v. Storehouse Markets, 918 P.2d 476 (1996) that in these situations, liability cannot be established unless two conditions are met. First, the injured party must show that the business owner knew or should have known of the hazardous condition. Second, the party must show that the business owner had enough time to remedy the unsafe condition had the owner exercised reasonable care, and the owner failed to do so. In this type of case liabilty will only be imposed when the owner should have known about it and had time to correct it, but didn't.

Unsafe conditions of a permanent nature are the second legal theory giving rise to liability for a slip, trip and/or fall accidents. For example, if the unsafe condition exists due to the structure of a building, stairway, machinery, manner of use etc, then it may not be necessary for the injured party to prove that the owner was on notice of the hazard. Moreover, an owner of property may be liable for failing to warn patrons of dangers that are not apparent. On the other hand, an owner may be partially or fully absolved of liability if fault can be apportioned to the person who fell. For example, it may be difficult to prove liability if the injured party was impaired by drugs or alcohol or wasn't paying attention and fell on something that was open or obvious.

Steps should be taken in the event of an accident:

Report the accident to management and see that a report of the incident is made. If a report has not been made, then write a letter outlining the details of the accident.

Obtain photos of accident scene and injuries. Ask the management or owner if security film exists of the accident and if it will be preserved.

Get names of witnesses and contact information such as addresses, phone numbers and emails.

Seek medical help as soon as is reasonably possible. Make sure that you let your medical provider know that your injuries resulted from the accident.

In most cases it is a mistake to try and settle the claim until the full extent of injuries is known and how much the costs are for current and future medical care lost wages, etc.

The property owner, manager or insurer may ask the injured party to sign a release, however, do not sign anything until having it reviewed by an personal injury lawyer.


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Driggs, Bills, and Day are Utahs leading personal injury attorneys. For over 18 years they have been helping people who have been injured in car accidents, trip and falls, dog bites and wrongful death cases. The Utah Advocates can be found at www.utahadvocates.com