Slips on wet and newly refinished floors is a million dollar industry in the United States for people in the law profession. If someone falls and gets hurt on your floors after you've either mopped them or refinished them and you don't have the area marked correctly with warning signs, there is a big chance that you will get sued and you will loose. Insurance companies and private industry loose millions of dollars every year because a wet floor was not marked with warning signs or wet floor cones. If someone does slip on your wet floors and the area is marked correctly with warning signs the court will usually side in your favor because you took the precautionary measures to let people know that they were entering a hazardous area. A good rule of thumb to remember when using wet floor signs is to make them visible from every direction that enters the area. If possible purchase wet floor signs with pictograms or pictures of a person falling. A picture can sometimes say a thousand words and with the multilingual barrier in the United State at least in court you can say there was a pictogram describing a hazardous situation. Wet floor signs come in many forms, there are wet floor cones, folding signs, wet floor barriers and caution tape. Most of these wet floor warning tools are colored in bright yellow or bright orange to make them highly visible.
Wet floor cones are probably the most economical way to mark a hazardous area. They can be used for many purposes as well as marking wet areas. Most wet floor cones come in orange and yellow and do not display any written warnings or pictograms. Wet floor cones can be easily stacked one inside one another and stored in a small amount of space. When purchasing wet floor cones make sure to buy ones that are taller than any objects in the area that may block their view. The more pronounced your wet floor cones are, the less likely someone will not see them and slip and fall.
Wet floor signs that can fold in half are also a great way to mark a dangerous area. Folding wet floor signs unfold into an A shape which make them stable when put them into place. These folding signs mostly come in bright yellow and are very noticeable when entering a room. These are the most popular wet floor signs and can commonly be seen in all types on commercial and private facilities. Folding signs can come with written warning text and pictograms. The warning text on some of these signs come in a bilingual format such as Spanish and English but other languages can be found.
Wet floor barriers and caution tape are my favorites as far as safety equipment is concerned. The best way to avoid a law suit regarding a hazardous floor is to block the area off completely until it is safe. Sometimes this is not possible in a main access area but if no one can enter the area then no one can get hurt. Mobile barriers are light weight and very visible and can be unfolded to cordon off a walkway.
After reviewing the types of safety signs that can be used in an area its easy to see how a company or individual can protect themselves against possible lawsuits. If somebody slips and falls on your flaw chances are you are going to be sued, after all your a big company and you have all the money in the world and they are the one suffering, at least that's how they will see it. |
