Sure Footing How to prevent winter slip-and-fall injuries.

• Author: Dewalt, Sean
• Position: SAFETY CORNER

Winter presents all sorts of fun activities to look forward to, but no one looks forward to slippery roads and sidewalks. From twelve-inch snowfalls to dreaded freezing rain, the risks of slip-and-fall injuries for visitors, tenants, and employees are a real concern for businesses. Since slips and falls can happen anywhere, injuries sustained in cases covered by premises liability insurance and workers' compensation can be equally diverse and very costly.

The legal theory behind premises liability is that the owners and operators of a property need to exercise a reasonable amount of care to ensure that the property is safe for the people who use it. Tort allegations resulting from negligent care of a property can be very costly. The National Floor Safety Institute estimates that the average cost to defend against a slip-and-fall lawsuit is $50,000, and the average judgment awarded in cases that go to trial is $100,000.

Data from the National Safety Council shows that in workers' compensation cases the average costs for an injured worker are nearly $50,000. About half of those costs are indemnity (lost time) payments for missed work. According to the US Bureau of Labor Statistics, "In 2019, 2.8 million nonfatal workplace injuries and illnesses were reported by private industry employers. For nonfatal injuries and illnesses resulting in days away from work, 275,590 cases were caused by overexertion and bodily reaction. Slips and falls accounted for 27.5 percent of those cases."

The Occupational Safety & Health Administration's (OSHA) standard for walking/working surfaces, 29 CFR 1910.22, outlines requirements for ensuring that work surfaces are clean, dry (whenever possible), and properly maintained to ensure employee safety. Those rules tightened in 2017 with new language stating that employers must inspect walking/working surfaces regularly and as needed and correct, repair, or guard against hazardous conditions such as corrosion, leaks, spills, snow, and ice.

The often overlooked issue with lost time incidents is that since some of these injuries result in multiple days off or restricted work, they can be considered recordable OSHA incidents. Alaska Occupational Safety and Health (AKOSH) has a program directive called the High Hazard Target List. Employers are placed on that list when they have three or more lost time incidents, as reported through the Alaska Division of Workers' Compensation database for the previous year, and lost time...