Winter Slip and Falls – “Let’s Be Careful Out There”!
FEATURE
Winter Slip and Falls – “Let’s Be Careful Out There”! Dave Williams
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dina Bresge, in her February 28th, 2019 article for the Canadian Underwriter reports that for the winter of 2016-2017, there were 9000 hospitalizations in Canada due to slip and fall accidents. The estimates of all such incidents annually may be as high as 30,000. Many are not reported. More importantly, how many can be avoided through exercising proper care and wearing footwear that provides the best chance for safe transitioning. While there seems to be an absence of insurance data available, it is apparent that most ice related, personal legal challenges are settled out of court. The popular settlement seems to be in the area of $15,000. Additionally, legal challenges do not always come immediate to the event. Sometimes they come out of the woodwork two years later according to our insurance experts. Therefore, it is a good idea for property managers to maintain a log of “condition records” by day. The log could include weather, road conditions, driveway conditions and sidewalk conditions. Notwithstanding the threat of lawsuits, injuries hurt! Broken bones, sprains, ligament tears, concussions would be among the discomforts……….ouch! The winter of 2020-2021, could be even more of a concern because many snowbirds will be remaining in Canada due to Covid 19. Many of these folks are seniors so we need to ask the
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G O L D E N H O R SESHOE CHAPTER OF THE CANADIA N CO N D O MI N I U M I NSTI TUTE
