The last thing any business owner wants is to deal with personal injury lawsuits due to injuries on their property. However, as a business owner, your top priority needs to always be protecting your business and investments. This means that if someone is accusing your business of acting negligently and causing them personal injury, you need to be ready to defend yourself and the business.
This is why taking proactive steps to avoid lawsuits and protect your business’s financial and reputational well-being is so important. If you don’t, you may inevitably be held liable, either personally or from a business standpoint, for the injuries that person suffered. Learn the unique legal risks businesses face in regard to personal injury to learn how to protect your organization.
Understand the Legal Risks Your Business Faces
Regardless of what your business actually does, there are a number of legal risks you face that all may arise during the stages of a personal injury lawsuit case. Claims for personal injury that are filed against businesses are commonly those associated with slip-and-fall incidents, product liability, or employee injuries. In some cases, employees who are injured may choose to file a personal injury suit if they feel gross negligence was responsible for their injuries.
Naturally, businesses across different industries face varying levels of risk. A museum, for instance, is less likely to encounter personal injury lawsuits compared to a construction business. With people constantly coming and going, lapses in PPE can lead to accidents on site, for example. Beyond construction, retail stores and manufacturing are two areas that tend to see personal injury claims filed against businesses somewhat frequently.
Implement Strong Safety Protocols and Policies
The quickest and easiest way to prevent your business from getting a lawsuit filed against it is to simply maintain a safe environment for both employees and customers alike. This will reduce the amount of situations that can arise that could potentially lead to personal injury. For perspective, follow key safety protocols including:
- Conduct regular maintenance of equipment and facilities
- Post clear signage in hazardous areas (e.g., wet floors, construction zones)
- Implement safety training for employees on handling dangerous tasks
- Develop emergency procedures and response plans
Creating a culture of safety is a step in the right direction as it will reduce personal injury from occuring. Beyond this, if a personal injury does occur, taking the proper precautions in advance to prevent it will reduce the chance of negligence being found on behalf of your business. Considering this is one of the foundational points of a personal injury claim, it can save your business from being liable in a lawsuit.
Remember that safety protocols will naturally differ for every business and will not look the same for two organizations. Tailor your safety protocols specifically to the needs of your business to protect your employees and customers and minimize the risk of personal injury lawsuits.
Secure Adequate Insurance Coverage
Sometimes, even the best preparation is not enough, and personal injury may still occur on the grounds of your business. Even if you did handle your preparation and feel confident that a personal injury lawsuit would not succeed, it’s still best to keep yourself protected in more ways than one. Adding insurance coverage to your business beyond that which is standard and required is an excellent way to go about this. Below are three types of insurance you should consider adding in your discretion as they apply to your business:
- General Liability Insurance: Offers coverage for accidents that occur on your business premises
- Workers’ Compensation Insurance: Offers coverage for employee injuries that happen while on the job
- Product Liability Insurance: Offers coverage for injuries that are caused by defective products.
Insurance is essentially a safeguard to address personal injury lawsuits before they escalate. Even if you believe that your business didn’t do anything wrong, sometimes utilizing insurance is quicker and easier than taking things to court for a fight. This is especially true for smaller businesses that don’t have as many resources to fight or a flushed-out legal team.
In the event you have insurance policies in place or are considering getting them, ensure that you review and update those policies regularly to keep them applicable. Business models change over time which means your insurance policy may need to evolve over time to better match how your business is now run.
Create Clear Contracts and Waivers for Clients and Employees
Making use of contracts and waivers is an excellent and easy way to add a third layer of protection to your business beyond proper preparation and insurance. The reason why is that contracts and waivers limit liability by forcing customers and employees to acknowledge and accept natural risk in the course of business. For example, recreational facilities and gyms require customers and employees to sign waivers because of the natural dangers that come with working out using heavy weights and machines. If everyone who was injured at the gym due to picking up a weight that was too heavy for them sued, there would be no gyms left.
Beyond waivers, employee contracts and safety training agreements that outline responsibilities are important as they cover liability too. If an employee is injured doing something that isn’t a part of their job description, they won’t be able to hold you liable if a contract is in place.
Take proactive measures to avoid personal injury lawsuits
From implementing safety protocols to securing insurance and using waivers, there is no shortage of ways in which you should be aiming to protect your business from personal injury lawsuits. These lawsuits can cost your business time and money which you may not be able to afford if you are a small or family-owned business. That’s why implementing each of the above protections is so important. Regularly evaluate the risk management strategies your business uses and consult with legal professionals to ensure that you are fully protected.
If you are unsure of how to implement any of the above protections or simply have questions about whether an injury that occurred on your business premise is grounds for personal injury, reach out to an accredited lawyer who can help walk you through the details today.
