A lawsuit waiting to happen

[Despina83]

So was walking down one of the aisles when I slid and nearly fell on my head. I looked down and saw a HUGE puddle of water. I mean, the whole floor was just covered with water. I couldn't believe the mess. I made sure it was taken care of right away, but jeez. If you broke a container of water and water poured everywhere, wouldn't you uh, I don't know...tell a worker? Or just scurry away? Sheesh! Talk about lawsuit potential. Speaking of falling, I was walking out with a co-worker tonight and the parking lot was literally an ice skating rank. She fell flat on her back-HARD. It scared me, but she wasn't hurt. It's scary that people have actually died hitting their heads on the ice. Maybe I'll have to crawl out to my car tommorow night.

[looney_librarian]

just bring in a pairof ice skates tomorrow at work, maybe your boss will get the msg that the parking lot needs to get scraped and de iced.

[bigjimaz]

We get ice storms all the time here in PA. in the winter, especially since I'm in the mountains. I have found the most wonderful thing for walking on ice. My old football shoes from high school. The ones with the metal cleats. They're not too keen on people who wear them in the store, but there's no rule that says I can't wear them to get to the store.

Spills happen all the time in stores. Unfortunately, about half of them are discovered "by accident." I hope you or your coworker suffer no ill effects from your respective falls.

[boringscreenname]

I had the same thing happen at an open checkout lane in Wal-Mart. The cashier didn't even notice it, and one of the other cashiers pointed it out and got the mess cleaned up.

[PepperElf]

one of those cases where martial arts can save your life....

my old karate teacher told us the story about how he was walking around at work and slipped on the ice... he didn't even think about it until after he fell... by instinct he'd rolled his head IN and had slapped the ice on either side of his body with his hands. thus he protected his head and put some of the force of the fall onto his hands instead of his back.

(he also once instinctively upper-blocked, only to realize afterwards... he'd deflected a 2x4 that had fallen)

[Eric the Grey]

Speaking of falling, I was walking out with a co-worker tonight and the parking lot was literally an ice skating rank. She fell flat on her back-HARD. It scared me, but she wasn't hurt. It's scary that people have actually died hitting their heads on the ice. Maybe I'll have to crawl out to my car tommorow night.

Ouch! Falling in an icy parking lot is exactly how I broke my left leg and ankle last winter.

I hope your friend is Ok.


Eric the Grey

[morgana]

Ouch! Falling in an icy parking lot is exactly how I broke my left leg and ankle last winter.

Exactly how my sister fractured her skull eleven years ago.

[SuperB]

one of those cases where martial arts can save your life....

my old karate teacher told us the story about how he was walking around at work and slipped on the ice... he didn't even think about it until after he fell... by instinct he'd rolled his head IN and had slapped the ice on either side of his body with his hands. thus he protected his head and put some of the force of the fall onto his hands instead of his back.

My kids dojo studies Koden Kan and I've watched them do the same thing. It's nice to see what I'm paying for be used instinctively.

[smileyeagle1021]

I love icy parking lots... the maintanence people for my condo complex hasn't yet learned about this marvelous invention called salt... my knee still hurts like hell from my fall on wednesday (and now I have salt in my car that I spread around it every night when I park during the icy periods).

[BookstoreEscapee]

I fell on ice on my way into work a couple months ago. I landed on my ass; I was lucky, if I had been back a few inches I would probably have hit my back on the curb. Had a nice bruise (well, I had to look!) and my hip and thigh muscles were sore for a couple days, but otherwise no ill effects. The lot had been salted/sanded, but I was walking between two cars and they had obviously not done that spot. Though, there've been at least two other times I've nearly fallen so maybe they're just not as thorough as they should be.

My mom once fell on ice on our front porch (last year on Valentine's day!). She was on her way out to do gift wrapping at the bookstore, and she broke her wrist. Needless to say, there was no giftwrapping that day. Oh, yeah, and apparently it's my fault, because I didn't call to tell them there was ice on the porch when I left the house...3 hours earlier! Hey, at least she didn't try to sue me...

[Igorina]

If you're going to be walking over a lot of icy surfaces, you might want to invest in some crampons (sp?)

They are basically cleated metal plates you can strap to the bottom of your shoes for added grip.

[PCGameGuy]

We get ice and snow on our sites in the colder months, our company ponied up for some of these for us:

http://yaktrax.com/productstraction.aspx

They work well on slippery surfaces, and are pretty easy to use. I bought some and keep em in the vehicles in case of emergency.

[protege]

The landlord at my first job was like that. The cheap bastard refused to lay down any salt, or plow the lot or even do the sidewalks during the winter. As a result, the tiny parking lot had about 2 inches of ice on it and he couldn't understand why most of the tenants moved out at the end of their leases

My parents don't throw out salt either. Apparently, they're more concerned about damaging the driveway...than they are about someone falling on it, and suing them into the poorhouse

[ArcticChicken]

I had the same thing happen at an open checkout lane in Wal-Mart. The cashier didn't even notice it, and one of the other cashiers pointed it out and got the mess cleaned up.

That happened to me today. Some "lady" spilled her soda and didn't bother to tell me.

And, Protege, I'm pretty sure that's illegal.

[Geek King]

My parents don't throw out salt either. Apparently, they're more concerned about damaging the driveway...than they are about someone falling on it, and suing them into the poorhouse

Actually, you're safer from lawsuit if you don't do anything to your drive/sidewalk. If you do salt/scrape it, the pedestrian has a reasonable expectation of safety (as described by the lawyer I was talking to. While playing House of the Dead in an arcade. ). An uncleaned surface is considered to be obviously "at your own risk" in the eyes of the law.

NOTE: This may only be in Ohio, USA. YMMV depending on location. Also, I know some communities require that you clean your walks. That may modify the circumstances also.