Homeowners and businesses in British Columbia must take reasonable steps to ensure the safety of their visitors. Otherwise, they may be liable for their guests’ injuries in the event an accident occurs.

A vast majority of negligence claims against businesses and homeowners arises from slick or unkempt conditions causing people to slip and fall resulting in injuries.

If you’ve been involved in a slip and fall accident, you should take the following steps:

– Take some photos of the area where you fell,

– If injured, call for medical help or have someone nearby make the call,

– Take the names and contact information of any and all witnesses that are willing to give statements as to what they saw,

– Get legal advice right away – If you fall down on business premises, the business owner will go into full damage control mode after your injury. The hazard that caused your fall will likely be fixed right away.

– If you fall on municipal or city property, you must talk to a lawyer immediately. The law has very strict timelines that require you to give a city or municipality notice right away of your injuries, and the notice you give must meet a very specific legal format. If you fail to give this legal notice within two months of your injury, you may be prevented from claiming any money for your injuries.

Generally, conditions are considered hazardous when a reasonable person would consider them to be hazardous. In other words, if it is a matter of common sense that the condition is hazardous, and that someone slips and falls because of those conditions, the law will hold the owner of the property responsible for any injuries caused by the slip and fall.

That being said, the efforts you take in securing evidence of the hazard before it is removed, and in securing witnesses before they disappear or forget what they saw, and in obtaining legal advice to satisfy the legal preconditions necessary to bring forward a claim will strengthen your claim and make it more likely that you receive compensation for your injuries from the negligent parties.