Personal injury (PI) claims come in all shapes and sizes. They go far beyond a customer slipping and falling on your premises. You need to engage in thorough risk management to reduce the chances you’ll be responsible for someone’s injury and be a defendant in their lawsuit according to a business litigation lawyer.
When you think about a PI claim against your company, you may think about how much money it might cost. That’s just the beginning. Defending yourself may take substantial time and energy (which would be better spent running your business). You may need to disclose things you’d rather keep private. The bad publicity it may cause can harm your brand.
How To Limit Your Exposure To PI Claims
Unless you shut down, there’s no sure way to prevent PI claims against your company. You must buy liability insurance to protect your business and give yourself peace of mind. Your insurance carrier or agent may also work with you to manage your liability risks and implement effective ways to lessen them.
Some issues to consider and steps you could take according to our friends at Focus Law LA are as following:
- Make your property as safe as you reasonably can, especially if customers, clients, contractors, or others come onto it. Keep it clean and well-managed. Don’t wait for problems. Regularly, and actively look for potential safety issues and address them before they become realized
- If you have vehicles, regularly maintain and repair them so they’re safe. Ensure your employees drive safely. Don’t put anyone behind the wheel you wouldn’t trust with your safety. If a driver gets a speeding ticket or causes an accident, you must re-evaluate if they’re worth the risk. Don’t tell drivers to be safe and obey speed limits if you put them in positions where that’s impossible. If it takes an hour to drive to a client, don’t give them 30 minutes to do so, and threaten them with trouble if they fail to get there in time
- Screen the people you hire and sufficiently manage them, especially if they’re alone with others. If you hire someone with a history of workplace violence because you failed to screen them and they attack someone while on the job, you may be sued. If you get complaints about an employee’s inappropriate behavior but fail to investigate them or take them seriously, if that employee later harms someone while at work, don’t be surprised if you’re named as a defendant in a PI case
- If you manufacture, distribute, or sell something unsafe for its intended use or if it lacks sufficient warnings or instructions, you may be subject to a product liability lawsuit if it injures someone. Many of these lawsuits are filed without a solid factual basis, but if you learn of possible safety issues with a product you’re involved with, you must decide if continuing the status quo is a good idea
- A libel lawsuit can be considered a personal injury action. You may have strong, negative opinions about a former employee or competitor. If you share them with others and include false allegations, you may be setting yourself up for a lawsuit. Whether it’s part of a discussion with another person, an internal email, or a post on the company’s social media account, when in doubt – don’t state anything you may regret later
This is just the tip of the personal injury iceberg you’re facing. Talk to your attorney, insurance agent, or carrier about ways to lessen your exposure to potential personal injury claims.
