A tripping and slipping accident is no different from other personal injury claims in that in order to claim for a trip slip or fall it is necessary to show that someone was legally liable for the incident which led to the injury.
The Claimant has to prove is that the Defendant was in breach of a Statutory Duty, as a result of which if the Claimant suffered damage or it was in breach of a common law duty of care owed to the Claimant.
Under Section 41 (1) of the Highways Act 1980 there is an absolute duty to maintain the highway at Public expense which was best summed up in the case of Griffith v Liverpool Corporation 1967 when the duty was expressed as follows :-
“The duty at common law to maintain, which includes a duty to repair a highway, was not based in negligence but in nuisance. It was an absolute duty to maintain, not merely a duty to take reasonable care to maintain, and a statutory duty which replaced it will also be absolute.”
This means that in order to reduce the incidence of tripping and slipping accidents the Highways Authority and Local Authority have a duty to keep areas where the public may walk in good serviceable condition.
What the Claimant has to prove in order to succeed in bringing a trip slip or fall claim is that on the balance of probabilities the part of the highway where his/her accident occurred was not reasonably safe and that the accident was caused by the dangerous condition of the highway.
A possible defence to a legal action against a Highways Authority or a Local Authority is contained in Section 58 of the 1980 Highways Act which provides a Statutory Defence. The Highway Authority is not liable if it can prove that it took “such care as in all the circumstances was reasonably required to secure the part of the highway to which the action relates was not dangerous for traffic”. This is usually proved by inspection sheets indicating that the Authority has inspected the area on a regular basis.
A lot of tripping and slipping accident injuries occur in shops and Supermarkets. The Occupiers Liability Acts impose the standard duty of care on those who occupy or control premises in relation to dangers due to the state of the property or to things done or omitted to be done there. Buildings do not need to be present. This can be important because accidents happen on clear sites, waste land etc.
Supermarkets are places where many people slip, trip or fall due to spillage of one type or another. Again in order to defeat the claim the Defendant has to show that they had a proper system designed to give reasonable protection to customers when the accident happened despite that system.
