California is home to many diverse cuisines and food cultures. The state’s restaurant scene is incredibly vibrant, with a dish for every taste. Whether you’re into pizza, dim sum, tacos, sushi or a humble burger, there’s a restaurant for you in the state.
But as diverse as the restaurants are in California, so are the slip-and-fall risks in these establishments. What are these risks, and what can you do when you suffer a fall injury from one?
Biggest slip-and-fall risks in restaurants
Experts say that most slip-and-fall accidents in restaurants result from unsafe and unclean floors. Spills involving food, oil, cleaning agents and even water are common enough occurrences in most restaurants and can make floors slippery.
But even if staff clean a spill up, a restaurant’s floor can remain slick and dangerous. A study found that restaurant floors can accumulate layers of grease, oil, soap film and mineral deposits over the years. Coupled with the wear and tear of constant footfall, a tile can smoothen given enough time and become a slip hazard.
Slipping and getting injured in a restaurant
If you slip inside a restaurant, you can suffer an entire menu of injuries. The severity of your injuries also depends on which part of your body impacts the floor first. These injuries include:
- Bruises
- Fractures (ankles, arms, hips, wrists, etc.)
- Spinal cord injuries
- Sprains
- Soft tissue damage
Of these possible injuries, hip fractures are the most serious you can suffer. They can lead to multiple health problems even after you recover and can even be fatal.
Per California law, the owner of any premise such as a restaurant is obliged to perform ordinary care in managing their property to avoid exposing anyone to unreasonable risks of harm. You can hold a restaurant owner responsible for your injuries through a lawsuit. But to make your case, remember that you must prove that the restaurant owner was negligent in their duty to care.