Slip and Fall Accidents in Wintery Weather: How to avoid them and what to do if you don’t!

According to a recent article in Time Out magazine, the UK may be about to feel the effects of a weather phenomenon called ‘La Nina’, with a colder winter than usual just around the corner.

The World Meteorological Organisation (WMO) predicts a 60% chance of La Nina conditions developing between October 2024 and February 2025. For the UK, La Nina could initially bring a chillier early winter with storms and heavy rain towards the back end.

At the time of writing, much of the country has been experiencing its first blast of snow and ice of the Winter, so perhaps the La Nina predictions will not be too wide of the mark!

Whatever the outcome, we are into Winter. Whether La Nina is brewing or not, we can expect more periods of sub-zero temperatures, snow, high winds and ice on the ground during the next few months.

Is there a higher likelihood of slip and fall accidents in the Winter months?

Wintry weather conditions increase the risk of accidents on the roads, pavements, and outdoor spaces. The probability of having a slip and fall accident indoors increases in the Winter, too. Here are some of the reasons why:

Shorter days, meaning less daylight, make seeing where you are going more difficult. Fall accidents of this nature might not always involve ice or snow and instead are caused purely by a lack of light in the morning or late afternoon onwards.

Suppose car parks owned by shops, pubs, or restaurants do not have adequate lighting to compensate for the absence of natural light. What is the situation if a lawful visitor, such as a customer, trips and falls, suffering injury due to the lack of suitable lighting? The answer is that car park owners may find themselves in difficulties if the person injured in the fall decides to bring a slip, trip and fall accident claim against them.

Leaves falling from trees onto the ground soon get wet, decay, and become a slipping risk if not swept up and removed, especially when they fall on pavements. What’s worse, the fact that they get wet means the leaves may freeze, causing even more hazardous conditions for pedestrians.
Caused by sub-zero autumn and winter temperatures, ice on the ground is an obvious hazard on a wide range of surfaces. If you slip on ice on the pavement, it doesn’t automatically mean you can claim against the local authority for injuries you suffered in the accident. They indeed have a responsibility to keep pavements or public footpaths safe to walk on, but their statutory duty of care to you is to take such measures as are ‘reasonably practicable’.

Often, whether a claim would be successful if it went to court depends on how heavy the footfall is in the area where the accident occurred. The larger the footfall, the greater the onus on the local authority to grit the area to avoid trip and fall incidents.

When you walk on paths, shopping centre car parks or entrances to shops and cafes owned by private businesses, they owe you a similar duty of care to do their best to keep you safe whilst on their premises.

So, suppose you have a slip and fall accident on the floor of an icy car park. In that case, you may have a valid claim against the owners of the car park, although the same principles of reasonableness would apply – how long had the ground been icy, had anyone else reported an accident in the same place or nearby, and typically, how heavy is the footfall?

What you can’t expect of the owners is that they remove every piece of ice or mop up pools of water as soon as they form.

If you have a slip and fall accident in an icy car park belonging to a store and suffer injury, you must prove there was a clear accident risk that the store could have prevented.

Let’s assume other people reported that they slipped and fell in the same area before you did. Since the store had already been alerted to the hazard and not done anything about it, they’ve probably breached their duty of care to you, meaning you may have reasonable prospects of winning a slip and fall claim should you decide to take the store owner to court.

People who unwittingly bring ice and snow indoors on their footwear contribute to the risk of fellow members of the public and others suffering injury due to slip and trip accidents.
Some of the slipperiest surfaces in the winter months are near the entrances of shops, cafes and entertainment venues, both outside and indoors, as heavy footfall deposits rain, ice and snow on very flat surfaces, which can become areas where people are in danger of slipping and falling.

Common winter-related slip and fall injuries?

It’s a popular misconception that slip and fall accidents only result in minor injuries, such as bumps and bruises. An unexpected fall caused by slipping on a wet or icy floor can mean the fall victim often has no time to correct their fall, meaning any part of their body could hit the ground first, including the head. Falls are the most common cause of accident-related hospital admissions and accidental deaths in the UK, according to the Royal Society for Prevention of Accidents (RoSPA).

As a result, trip and fall accidents cause injuries of all severities, including:

Cuts and bruises
Fractured limbs, especially broken ankles, arms and wrists
Dislocations
Lacerations
Ligament damage
Whiplash injury
Back injury
Spinal injury
Head or brain injury

How can I minimise my chances of having a slip and fall accident in Winter?

Here are some practical suggestions for navigating your way around and over slippery or wet surfaces in the winter months.

Wear suitable footwear – stout, flat, rubber sole protected shoes or boots are the most practical footwear for lousy weather conditions.
Take your time – don’t rush when walking on pavements, roads, car parks, or other public and private surfaces that are wet or icy in Winter.
Take smaller steps than usual.
Use handrails on stairs and other areas when provided.
Don’t carry too many heavy shopping bags when you know you are going to have to walk on wet or icy surfaces.
Use floor mats and shoe scrapers provided outside shops and other buildings you intend to visit to ensure you’ve as much grip on your shoes as possible in case the entrances to the buildings are impaired by ice, slush, snow or water. You’ll also be doing your bit not to spread ice off your footwear over the building you’re visiting.
If you aren’t carrying shopping, keep your hands out of your pockets to help you balance.
Try to avoid walking in dark or poorly lit areas if at all possible.

And if, despite your best endeavours, you still have a slip and fall accident?

As we have already explained, it doesn’t necessarily mean you have grounds for a claim. Simply because there was ice, snow or water on the surface you were walking on at the time of the accident; it doesn’t automatically mean you have a valid claim for personal injury against the owner or occupier of the land. To enhance your prospects of bringing a successful claim and to enable an expert injury lawyer to evaluate whether you have a valid claim or not, you should:

After the accident, report the incident to the relevant authority: the local authority in the case of accidents on roads, pavements or public paths. Report the accident to the owners or occupiers of shops and supermarkets via someone in authority. Ask for the duty manager and report it to them.
Get the details of any witnesses who saw your fall.
Make sure you get photos of the accident scene on the day of the accident. If someone was with you when the accident happened, ask them to do the photography. You’ll need to take photos of your injury from the first day and in stages over the coming weeks or months.
Get checked by a GP or at A&E. Your health is the most important factor, whether you are considering making a claim or not.
Should you decide to investigate whether you have reasonable prospects of pursuing a slip and fall accident claim, your next stop is to contact an experienced firm of personal injury solicitors like Mooneerams Solicitors, who usually handle trip and fall claims on a No Win No Fee basis.

You can read more about slip and fall claims at https://www.mooneerams.com/accidents-in-public-places/slip-trip-and-fall-accidents-in-public-places/