Documenting physical evidence can solidify your slip and fall claim, ensuring fair compensation.
Proper evidence helps to associate your injuries with the stated accident and debunks any claims by your employer or insurance company that those injuries might have resulted from your actions.
Physical evidence can also establish whether a company has implemented proper guidelines to guard against slips and falls. Besides cementing your case, the absence of such safeguards may lead to a class action lawsuit being preferred against your employer for gross violation of OSHA standards.
This post looks at the different types of evidence required for a slip-and-fall claim.
Incident Documentation
Incident documentation is one of the most effective evidence-gathering strategies after a slip and fall injury. It involves writing the accident’s details, including the events immediately preceding and following.
Seeking professional counsel from a Little Rock slip and fall injury attorney can be invaluable in helping with proper incident documentation. The lawyer will guide you on the essential details to incorporate into the report, including hints of machine failures, the state of the floor or staircase, visibility conditions, etc.
For instance, you can make a valid case for compensation if it’s established that your supervisor ignored requests for equipment maintenance by mechanical technicians.
Photographic Evidence
While a pen and paper may not be immediately accessible after a slip-and-fall accident, your smartphone will always be within reach.
Whisk out your phone and take photographic evidence of the accident scene, focusing on the cause of the accident and resultant injuries. Ensure you capture similar details that would feature in your incident documentation report.
More importantly, act before the scene is possibly contaminated. A minute may be all it takes for wet flooring to dry out, causing you to miss vital evidence.
Surveillance Footage
Many commercial and private properties have CCTV cameras. If you had a slip-and-fall accident around such premises, it’s essential to secure video recordings of the incident. Video evidence can amplify your photographic evidence by providing a more realistic chain of events leading to the slip and fall.
Get a copy of the video footage from the building’s owner or security team.
However, don’t fret if the concerned people won’t share CCTV surveillance footage with you. Your attorney may obtain a court order to legally access the recordings or use the reluctance to share the footage as evidence of culpability.
Witness Statements
Unless you slipped and fell in the dead of night, some likely bystanders witnessed the entire ordeal. Politely ask if they’re willing to testify and, if yes, take their statements for record purposes.
Be sure to document witness statements as soon as possible. This helps to capture key but easily forgotten details while preventing possible narrative changes.
Besides, approaching eyewitnesses earlier on provides an unbiased account of the events.
Maintenance Logs
If your slip and fall injuries result from equipment malfunctions, securing the maintenance logs of the appliances in question is imperative. Request the machine’s maintenance records from the responsible departments to understand whether any hazardous conditions have been recently addressed.
Let’s say an escalator is designed to undergo robust servicing every six months. If you can establish that the machine has gone nine months without scheduled maintenance, that’s a valid case for gross negligence.
Note that maintenance logs can also apply to structural issues. In this case, you’ll require a property’s maintenance log to establish that the building is up to date on all repairs.
Weather Reports
Adverse weather can trigger or exacerbate slip and fall injuries. Therefore, it’s essential to document the prevailing weather conditions when you have an accident.
Heavy precipitation (rain, snowfall, and storms) are notable examples of inclement weather conditions aggravating slip and fall injuries.
If you slipped on an ice-capped driveway, property owners may argue that your injuries were due to the icy conditions, even if the building is dilapidated. Fortunately, slip-and-fall lawyers are experienced enough to see through such deceptions.
Medical Records
Not all slip-and-fall accidents result in visible injuries. Regardless, it’s imperative to seek prompt medical treatment.
A doctor will diagnose you for any internal injuries caused by blunt force trauma, such as traumatic brain injuries (TBIs).
Even if the accident caused no significant injuries, you’ll require medical records like billing statements to build a solid case for compensation.
Expert Medical Testimony
The testimony from medical experts can be instrumental in establishing a relationship between slip and fall injuries and their alleged cause.
Besides, such statements can paint a picture of the long-term medical costs from the injuries, a critical factor when negotiating a fair settlement.
In addition to documenting medical testimonies in writing, ensure you collect them from doctors willing to testify in a formal claims proceeding.
Summary
Collecting evidence after a slip and fall accident should be a joint effort with your personal injury lawyer.
Slip and fall attorneys are professionally trained in evidence collection. They understand the types of evidence required to solidify slip and fall claims and the procedures involved in documenting such information.
Your slip and fall lawyer will also handle all communications with your employer and insurance company, preventing you from making self-incriminating statements. If the matter proceeds to full trial, you can trust the attorney to represent you in court as you focus entirely on your recovery.
