Preventing Shopping Injuries

“Shopping injuries” is a broad term used to describe personal injuries that occur while someone at a shopping mall. Hundreds of people flock to malls daily for shopping, dining, and entertainment activities. Most people don’t think of being in any particular danger when shopping for their desired items or basic needs at the shopping mall. However, shopping injuries are more common than one would think. It could involve a store owner’s failure to keep their premises safe or warn of known hazards for shoppers, workers, and visitors.

Shopping injuries tend to increase during peak shopping seasons, such as during the festival season, “Black Friday,” and other holidays. Types of shopping injuries that may occur on a store’s property include (wkw.com, 2019):

• Slips, trips, and falls
• Overcrowding injuries
• Head and body injuries
• Shopping cart injuries
• Parking lot injuries

Shopping injuries account for many personal injury claims each year. Shopping centres, like all businesses that welcome the public, have a legal responsibility to take reasonable steps to protect people from injuries and crime. Premises liability requires retailers to perform repairs, maintenance, clean-ups, inventory stacking, crowd control, and other duties in a reasonable and timely fashion. If you do not do so and someone is injured, you could be held responsible for compensating the injured person for their medical expenses and other losses.

Walkways

Slips, trips, and falls at the shopping mall can result from:

• wet floors
• uneven tiles
• inadequate lighting
• unsecured obstacles

Defective sidewalks could present tripping hazards like cracks or potholes if not repaired or maintained. Weather conditions, such as rain, can make walking on outdoor and indoor walkways a safety risk. You are responsible for keeping the walkways cleanliness for the safety of the people entering and leaving your business. A comprehensive mat system should serve as the first line of defense for all mall floors. You should have mats outside and inside all entryways to trap dirt, debris, and excess moisture from customers’ shoes.

Entryways should be monitored regularly to ensure mats don’t roll up and cause a tripping hazard. Keep excess water and contaminants from being tracked throughout the mall by cleaning the entryways multiple times a day. Warning signage and maintenance barriers are critical to warn people that there is the possibility that the floor they are walking on is wet and slippery. The sign’s purpose is to prevent people from falling and slipping over.

Overcrowding

Shopping sales season isn’t the only time to worry about being trampled by other shoppers as holiday or product launch could also create the conditions conducive to being injured by overcrowding. When more than the standard number of individuals gather in a specific location, it is possible to overcrowd the area. The fire marshal and legal authorities have a standard quantity of individuals that are safe in a particular area without the possibility of causing additional problems because the crowd is overpopulated.

When more than this number gather on the property, this is overcrowding. At a crowded place, a fire could cause significant harm, that injuries could compound and that accidents are potential just with the number of present guests. If a mall or store has poor security and doesn’t have a crowd control plan, it could result in injury. So, a good security plan will be a good back up during the peak season.

Escalators, Elevators, and Staircases

If a shopping mall spans more than one floor, patrons will need to use escalators, elevators, and staircases. These facilities help people to navigate the premises quickly. However, they also are areas for potential injuries when poorly maintained or lacking proper lighting. Regular maintenance and inspection could prevent the dysfunction of the facilities. The adequate lighting around escalators, elevators, and staircases area help people to see hazards ahead, and a clear warning maintenance signage can help to prevent serious injuries.

Stairs can cause various injuries due to a few reasons:

• Steps are wet from weather conditions
• Staircases were poorly constructed
• Stairways are not maintained
• Staircases don’t have handrails

It is essential to keep the staircases area clean and free from any hazard all the time to prevent injuries. Make sure to warn your customers with a child to have no loose shoelaces, dangling strings, scarves, or mittens that could get caught in the escalator (tremontsheldon.com, 2016). Also, remind them that it is hazardous to bring a stroller, walker, or shopping cart on an escalator. Again, prevention is better than cure.

Falling Objects

Debris, improperly stacked boxes, broken ceiling tiles, advertisement banners, and poorly shelved merchandise could all fall without warning and may injure anyone standing in the way. Falling objects, retail displays, out-of-reach objects, or other mishaps can cause injuries while people shop for their groceries. You can put a barrier to stop people from standing closer to the fragile displays. Cleaning staff or mall manager should report on the broken tiles, advertisement banners, and any other potential danger to get it to repair and prevent injury.

Grocery Stores and Other Retailers

Slip and fall cases at grocery stores or other retailers can arise from any of the following situations:

• Unmarked wet spots from freshly mopped or waxed floors
• Loose floorboards
• Messy floors from merchandise such as clothing, food, or beverages
• Leaks from a broken refrigerator or freezer

Always pay attention to wet spots, loose floorboards, or messy floors, and fix the issue immediately. Clean any leaks from a broken refrigerator or freezer. Practice cart safety and do not let any child steer the cart as it could bring potential to hit another customer. A child may fall as a result of a cart tipping over. There is no harm to warn the parent on the potential danger as you don’t want any incidents to happen at your mall.

Restrooms

While they are convenient and necessary facilities, they are also the location of many slip and fall accidents. Because of the hard surfaces in these restrooms, a person who slips and falls can suffer severe injuries while some are causing life-long changes to his life. Mall owners that provide public toilets must keep them in a reasonably safe condition and to warn guests of hazards. Because these bathrooms are high-traffic areas, it requires effort on the part of property owners to fulfil their duties.

Common ways that people suffer slip and fall accidents when conditions are dangerous include:

• Leaks
• Overflow
• Cracked flooring
• Debris and spilled liquids

Leaks in the many sinks and toilets found in public restrooms can accumulate on the floor. Many of these floors are tile, which can become dangerously slippery when wet. Toilets and sinks can become clogged and overflow quickly lead to an unsanitary condition as well as a slip and fall danger. When the tile or other flooring becomes cracked, chipped, or broken, an unsuspecting guest can trip or slip and fall. Not all people who use a public restroom are considerate of others.

When debris, splashed water, and spills of soap are not promptly cleaned up, it can create a slip and fall hazard for other guests using the facilities. Keep the restroom clean and hazard free from time to time to prevent injuries, especially during high-traffic hours.

Parking Lots

Anything could happen as someone walking to and from their car. Depending on the hours and how well a lot is maintained, there might not be a lot of light for people to see hazards. Outdoor parking lots and those that haven’t had any recent touch-ups could be cracked, uneven, and have potholes. Wheel stops could also trip you and potentially lead to injuries. Parking lots and structures can become crime scenes simply because shoppers are present. You need to be aware of crime in their parking areas and take reasonable steps to keep people safe. An effective security plan will help to prevent any crime at your building.

In a shopping mall, there are various internal and external joint and back of the house areas that all require cleaning, including public corridors, entrances, food courts, lifts/stairs/elevators, public toilets, prayer rooms, loading areas, parking areas, facade, canopies and glass windows, walkways and so on. ATALIAN’s expertise in facility services can help you clean pretty much everything in the mall. From cleaning floors at the common areas to all hygiene areas like bathrooms and baby changing rooms, and the food courts, including the tables and chairs, carpets, and furniture, we covered it all.

We also can keep your mall safe from hidden dangers or hazardous conditions that may cause injury and crime. As the owner of the malls, it is essential to tighten your security management and invest in some reputable security services. We understand every client’s risks and business objectives are different, so we will tailor-make our services to meet your needs. Contact and book us now!