A recent article in Risk & Insurance (May 2018, p. 32) cites some data for costs of slip and fall claims. Claims can result in a sharp increase in insurance premiums. If the property is self-insured, costs can come directly off profit.

Falls among adults are the most common cause of traumatic brain injury. Commercial insurer CNA reports that  between 2007 and 2012, the average cost of a traumatic brain injury in a general liability claim was $269,643. The average cost of a traumatic brain injury in workers’ comp claims was $259,153. Individual cases can be much higher. For example, a traumatic brain injury to a toddler may mean that he or she needs some level of support for life, possibly involving costs in seven figures including medical treatment.

Slips and falls that result in general liability claims cost an average of $30,000, while workers’ compensation claims average more than $26,000, according to a CNA posting by Senior VP Steve Hernandez on March 8, 2018.

Costs of replacing broken hips can be very large as well. Worse, if the claimant is elderly death too often occurs within a year after the fall.

High-end commercial properties are at particular risk because of focus on heritage properties, original design materials and glossy finishes. One strategy for preventing falls on these properties is to be proactive in keeping the floors dry. Safety Direct America can help with design decisions by providing meaningful slip resistance test results on candidate flooring. Chemical treatments and our SparkleTuff™ transparent coating can eliminate existing problems. For high-traffic properties, the Sustainable Slip Resistance test (offered exclusively by Safety Direct America in the USA) can help assess whether the slip resistance will hold up after hundreds of thousands of people have walked the floor. Our periodic monitoring service helps establish your due diligence in maintaining and documenting the optimum slip resistance for your floors.