By Chad Engle, Loss Prevention Manager and Safety Specialist
Courts in Nebraska have found that claims resulting from water being tracked into buildings due to rain or snow are not considered “temporary conditions caused by weather.” The legal consequence of these court findings is that political subdivisions do not have sovereign immunity from claims for injuries arising from this type of condition in your county buildings.
Instead, courts have found that building owners can be liable for injuries in these situations because the proximate cause of a fall and related injuries is the building owner’s failure to maintain the floor in a safe condition and the failure to warn the public of a hazardous condition. Those failures are considered separate from the condition of the floor, because building owners have a duty of care to visitors that may be breached if they do not reasonably respond to the weather’s foreseeable impact on flooring in areas where there is public foot traffic.
What does this mean to NIRMA members? It means that when weather conditions outside lead to hazardous conditions inside, we have a duty to maintain our floors in a safe condition, which can be fulfilled through ongoing inspections, ongoing dry mopping and water removal to keep them as dry as possible. The use of “Wet Floor” signs is recommended when necessary to warn the public of the possible hazard. Please remember that the “Wet Floor” signs alone will likely not protect the property owner from a premises liability claim. Entrance rugs and mats are highly effective as well. Keep in mind that rugs and mats need to lie flat on the floor and not create an additional trip hazard.
If your county or agency does experience a slip or trip and fall incident, please conduct a timely investigation to document the facts surrounding the event (with photographs) and notify NIRMA as quickly as possible. Feel free to reach out to me at [email protected] or (402) 450-2417 with questions or training.
