If the area where you tripped and fell is part of the property owner or possessor’s place, and he/she did not take y appropriate precautions or fix the problem that caused the accident, the owner or possessor can be held legally liable for your injuries. Here are several samples of common conditions that caused somebody to slip and fall accidents indoors, and the regulations about the property owner’s duties in terms of the following conditions.

Floors

It is the duty of the property owners to mop, wax, or polish their floors. When slip and fall accident accidents happen due to a wet floor, the property owner may be held responsible. Here are some conditions of conduct where a property owner may be held liable if there is slip and fall accidents:

• Applying too much wax or polish
• Using wax or polish unevenly
• Unable to give sufficient warnings like signs that the floor is being cleaned and still wet or damp
• Unable to place enough barriers to close off the area where there is a wet or damp floor
• Using a floor treatment to a sloping or inclining part of the floor
• Unable to apply a floor treatment with a “non-skid” ingredients, if this kind of treatment is necessary
• Treating part of a floor and leaving one part untreated so that the alteration in conditions causes slip and fall accident

The neglect of the property owner to maintain the carpeted floors, mats, and rugs can also become liability when a slip and fall accident happens. The following are samples of the conditions that usually result to slip and fall accidents:

• Mats or rugs with worn areas, curled edges, or holes with edges sticking up
• Worn, torn, or bulging or broken parts of carpet
• Items or things that caught in the carpet material that stick up and catch on footwear

Stairs

Stairs are mostly made of materials that may become worn when used continually. Stair edges can become rounded and causes people to slip when they step on it. The property owner may be held responsible for slip and fall accident on stairs when the property owner knew of these hazardous conditions, or the condition was present for duration of time that the owner should have known about it. When the owner is aware or should have known about the condition of the stair, there is a liability if:

• There is debris like pieces of papers, dirt, trash, gum on the stairs
• There is one or more steps are rounded and worn out
• There is a handrail broken or missing
• The stairs were waxed or polished and the stair material lacks non-skid surface

Escalators and Elevators

Some common systems of getting from one floor to another in a building are elevators and escalators. Since elevators and escalators are developed to bring passengers, in several occasions, the property owner has greater responsibility compared to other premises liability situations. When the vehicles like buses and trains are used as public transportation, the owners of these vehicles are usually held to a high standard of conduct. There are several courts that impose the same high standards of safety on owners and operators of elevators and escalators.

Slip and fall accidents happen on escalators and elevators when there are unexpected and abrupt movements or “jerks” in the machinery, or when some articles of footwear, clothing, hands, fingers, or feet are caught in different parts of the escalator or elevator. The Property owners are responsible to maintain their escalators or elevators properly so that they operate safely.