No business owner wants to get slapped with a personal injury lawsuit. That said, accidents can happen in business premises and a customer can purchase defective products that can cause them harm. However, knowledge about personal injury laws helps you take the necessary steps to protect your business. Here’s a look at laws that you should be aware of:
Negligence
A claim of negligence forms the basis of many personal injury lawsuits. Negligence is the failure to exercise care towards another person that results in unintentional harm. The injured person (plaintiff) can sue for damages based on different kinds of injuries, be it physical harm or property damage resulting from errors and miscalculations.
How can you defend against a negligence suit? Plaintiffs need to prove four elements: duty (defendant owed a legal duty), breach of duty (defendant failed to act), causation (the defendant’s actions or lack thereof contributed to the injury), and damages (plaintiff was harmed because of defendant’s actions). Your defense rests on negating one of these elements. You are not entirely liable if you can prove the other party was equally negligent.
Premises Liability
Premises liability holds owners responsible for accidents and injuries that take place on their business property. For instance, a customer can sue your business if they suffer an accident – a fall, perhaps – inside your property due to a wet floor and sustain injuries as a result. Even workers, vendors, solicitors, and intruders are covered under the premises liability law.
Businesses must take preventive measures to ensure that unfortunate situations don’t happen inside a workplace. Such actions include implementing safety policies and procedures, using signs to warn of potential risks, providing employees with training on handling such a situation, and conducting regular maintenance and inspection.
Product Liability
When a customer is harmed as a result of using a defective product, they can take action against you, the maker of the product. It is you responsibility to ensure the safety of your products before they get into the hands of consumers. However, customers also need to prove that the product was truly defective as well as prove that it was the reason for their injury.
A product liability claim can ruin your company’s reputation. To avoid such a scenario, take some initiatives to minimize the risk such as performing product testing and doing product reviews at every stage to ensure there are no issues. You can also protect the business by purchasing product liability insurance and making sure you hold suppliers accountable.
Workers’ Compensation
Injuries and illnesses that occur in the workplace can happen. This is why it’s important for businesses, whether you own a small shop with 30 employees or run a large factory with more than a thousand workers, to get an insurance policy for their employees to cover for work-related injury or illness. If not, you will end up paying for your employee’s medical bills out of pocket.
Being aware of these laws not only helps you protect your business but also ensures it stays on a profit-growing path.
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