A personal injury lawsuit can be devastating to a small business. From damages to litigation costs, small businesses may not be financially prepared to deal with the fallout of an injury lawsuit. For Florida businesses looking to protect themselves from liability, the best offense is a good defense.
This article explores five top steps to protect your business from an injury lawsuit. If you have additional questions about how to protect yourself, contact an experienced Miami personal injury lawyer at Shaked Law Personal Injury Lawyers for more information.
Table of Contents
1. Have Adequate Safety Protocols
Good safety protocols can give you a plan for responding to dangerous situations. Setting warning/caution signs, calling emergency services, and having proper safety equipment (like fire extinguishers) are some examples.
The important thing is to have a plan to address hazardous situations and keep people from further harming themselves due to dangers that arise at your business.
2. Train Employees on How to Avoid Accidents
Workplace safety training is another step to include in your safety plan. Safety training can reduce the risk of electrical accidents, exposure to hazardous substances, and slips and falls. It can also help employees take steps to avoid injuries/accidents to other employees — and customers or guests.
Having regularly scheduled safety training and/or training as part of new employee onboarding can go a long way toward preventing workplace injuries on your business property.
3. Regularly Inspect Your Premises
Depending on the type of business you run, slipping and tripping hazards may be more or less of a risk. However, all businesses can have dangerous conditions that could cause injuries to customers or employees, including clutter, broken flooring, spills, exposed wires, and other obstacles. That’s why Florida premises liability law expects businesses and property owners to regularly inspect their premises for hidden dangers and fix or warn of hazards that could cause injury.
You should make a plan to routinely inspect your property to ensure it is free of dangerous conditions. If you discover hazards, you should promptly repair them. If you cannot repair them right away, you should place warning signs around the hazard to direct people away.
4. Install Security Cameras Throughout Your Property
Security cameras can be an important deterrent to employee negligence and misconduct on your property. If employees understand their work is being monitored, they may be less likely to engage in behavior that could harm themselves or others (including guests).
Security cameras can also be important to monitor the conduct of customers/guests, especially those who claim to have been injured on your premises. Video footage can provide evidence of whether they were distracted in the moments leading up to the injury or whether they engaged in other careless behavior that might deflect your liability from their injuries. It can also provide evidence of illegitimate personal injury claims based on fraudulent accidents, such as a person faking a slip and fall.
5. Obtain Liability Insurance
If you are sued for a personal injury, general liability insurance can help cover the costs of your legal defense and any damages awarded against you, up to the policy limits. Insurance prevents you from having to pay large claims out of your own pocket.
Your insurance company (and its attorneys) will be responsible for investigating the claim and accepting/denying the claim. If the claimant files a lawsuit against you, the insurance company will typically provide defense lawyers to handle your defense.
You may want to consider purchasing other types of insurance depending on the nature of your business.
Contact a Florida Personal Injury Lawyer for More Information
If you are wondering what other steps you can take to protect your Florida business from personal injury liability, consider contacting a lawyer who specializes in personal injury law. An experienced attorney can help you identify areas of risk and exposure in your business and develop a plan to mitigate those risks.
