Lessening the likelihood of restaurant slip-and-fall accidents

As a Kentucky restaurant owner, you know you have many responsibilities. You need to make sure you stay in the black when it comes to your business finances, and you need to make sure that you provide a quality dining experience for your patrons. You also have numerous other tasks to attend to, including keeping your employees safe on the job.

You likely understand that working in a restaurant can pose many safety hazards. For this reason, you carry workers' compensation insurance to cover the costs that an injured worker may endure after an on-the-job accident. However, you undoubtedly also want to make sure that the claims made against your insurance are legitimate.

Preventing falls

In particular, slip-and-fall accidents are prevalent hazards of working in a restaurant. Fortunately, you take several steps to help keep your workers safe while on the job. Some safety tips to consider include the following:

• Use flooring that has a low slip potential.
• Make sure any mats are placed on clean and dry surfaces as wet or dirty surfaces could promote sliding.
• Require that your workers wear slip-resistant shoes.
• In greasy areas, use no-skid waxes and gritted floor surfaces to provide traction.
• Keep walkways clear.
• Do not store items on stairs on in stairwells.
• Provide step ladders for workers to use in areas where shelves or other storage may be difficult to reach.
• Keep areas as dry as possible.
• Ensure that workers do not overfill bus tubs as they may not watch their step if they are trying to keep items inside the containers.
• Train your staff on the potential slip-and-fall hazards they could face and how they can correct any hazards they come across.

By doing your best to address hazards and train your staff, you may considerably lessen the likelihood of any of your workers suffering injuries in a slip-and-fall accident on the job.

Defending against a claim

Though you have done your part to prevent accidents, a worker could still file a workers' compensation claim after suffering an injury. However, the claim may not be legitimate, and you may need to defend against it. Fortunately, you have legal options for such defense, and finding out more information on these options may prove useful to you.