Customer injuries happen.

And when they do, the legal fallout can be brutal for business owners. One slip in the aisle. One fall in the parking lot. One poorly maintained piece of equipment. Any of these can turn into a lawsuit that drains your finances and tanks your reputation.

Here’s the problem:

The majority of business owners are unaware of how to legally address these issues. They freak out. They make errors. And those errors are costly in the courtroom.

Guide to Legal Considerations for Businesses with an Injured Customer

Here’s what’s covered:

• Why Customer Injury Cases Matter

• The Legal Duty Businesses Owe Customers

• What To Do Right After An Injury Happens

• Common Customer Injury Scenarios

• How To Minimize Legal Risk

Why Customer Injury Cases Matter

Customer injury claims are no joke.

Over the past several years, small business liability claims in the US have risen by 12% – and injured customers are one of the leading causes of the jump. Lawsuits from injured customers hit more businesses every year.

And the payouts aren’t small, either.

The average slip, fall and customer injury claim is $45,000, according to recent industry data. That’s small business death. Lawyer fees and reputation damage combined with that, you have a problem.

The bottom line?

Negligence of injury risk to customers is no longer an option. Whether retail store, restaurant or long-term care, you need to know the legal playbook.

The Legal Duty Businesses Owe Customers

Every business owes its customers what the law calls a “duty of care.”

This is a legal duty to keep your premises reasonably safe for your visitors. In practice that means:

• Regularly inspecting your property for hazards

• Fixing dangerous conditions quickly

• Warning customers about any risk you can’t fix immediately

• Training staff to spot and report safety issues

Break any of these and you’ve opened the door to a negligence claim.

This is where nursing home negligence enters the picture. Nursing homes have a particularly high duty of care, since their residents are vulnerable and can seldom protect themselves from danger. For businesses operating in this area, nursing home negligence claims can be financially ruinous. Talk to these Boca Raton personal injury lawyers to learn where your business is vulnerable to nursing home negligence liability and how to defend yourself against it.

And the data on nursing home negligence is scary…

Studies conducted by the World Health Organization have found that about 12% of nursing home employees confess to abusing residents. Even more disturbing, 1 out of 3 nursing homes are cited for causing serious injury to residents each year. That’s a tremendous legal exposure for a long-term care provider.

What To Do Right After An Injury Happens

The first 24 hours after a customer injury are the most important.

What you do (or fail to do) in this time frame can help determine the success or failure of your defense if a lawsuit is later filed.

Here’s your action checklist:

1. Make sure the injured person gets medical attention immediately

2. Document the scene with photos and videos

3. Get contact information from any witnesses

4. File an internal incident report

5. Notify your business insurance provider

6. Preserve all surveillance footage

And the things NOT to do:

• Don’t admit fault at the scene

• Don’t offer to pay medical bills on the spot

• Don’t discuss the incident on social media

• Don’t let staff speak to attorneys without legal counsel present

Simple rules, right?

You would be amazed at how many business people do this in the midst of the crisis. One ill-considered statement by a manager can become the centerpiece of a plaintiffs case against your business.

Common Customer Injury Scenarios

Injuries to customers can occur in numerous manners. However, certain situations occur in litigation much more frequently than others.

Slip And Fall Accidents

This is the biggest category by a mile.

Slip and fall accidents rack up $70 billion a year for U.S. businesses in medical costs and legal settlements. Wet floors, ripped carpets, icy sidewalks, cracked tiles – these common hazards cause most of the nation’s customer injury lawsuits.

Nursing Home Negligence

Negligence of a nursing home is fast becoming an industry of its own. Some of the common causes of action associated with nursing home negligence include:

• Bedsores from inadequate care

• Falls caused by understaffing

• Medication errors and mix-ups

• Failure to provide basic hygiene

• Wandering and elopement incidents

Any long-term care business should have a nursing home negligence risk management plan on day one.

Product-Related Injuries

Customers can sue you if they are injured by a product they purchased from your business. This can be the case if the product was defective or if it did not have adequate warnings about safe use.

Parking Lot Incidents

Don’t neglect your parking lot. Insufficient lighting, unmarked potholes and security breaches all result in lawsuits that business often lose.

How To Minimize Legal Risk

You can’t eliminate all injuries. You can, however, drastically reduce your risk with a proper plan in place.

Develop a comprehensive safety program. Keep records. Audit frequently. Educate your employees thoroughly. When you find yourself in court, a paper trail demonstrating that you took all reasonable measures to safeguard your customers is pure platinum.

Get the right insurance coverage. General liability insurance is a must for any business where customers come on premises. If you work in the nursing home industry, then you should also have coverage for nursing home negligence claims.

Respond immediately to hazards. Clean up a spill when you see it. Block off a broken walkway and post a warning. The longer a hazard is on your property, the more likely you are to be sued for it.

Maintain good records. Repair logs, training documentation, incident reports – keep them all. These records could prove critical in determining whether you win or lose your case in the future.

Call a lawyer early. Contact your attorney as soon as you receive notice of a potential claim. Don’t wait. Don’t try to do this on your own. A good lawyer can prevent a bad situation from becoming a catastrophe.

Final Thoughts

Customer injury incidents are a reality every business needs to plan for.

The companies that come out on top are the ones with a safety policy in place, a plan for documenting everything, and a legal game plan already in place before things go awry.

Quick recap:

• Understand the duty of care you owe every customer

• Act fast when an injury happens

• Know the common injury scenarios (including nursing home negligence)

• Build a safety program that minimizes risk

• Get the right insurance and legal counsel lined up

The law is unforgiving on businesses caught out without due preparation. However, with a suitable strategy in place, you can safeguard your business and still provide your customers with the service they need.

Don’t wait until something goes wrong.

Start putting these protections in place today.