Compensation insurance specialist MEMIC has urged its policyholders to take extra precautions amid forecasts of heavy rainfall and plummeting temperatures across the Northeast.
MEMIC said roads, walks, stairs, and parking lots may be transformed by extreme weather on Friday, leaving people vulnerable to slip-and-fall injuries. As such, property owners and maintenance companies should take the time to apply salt and sand before temperatures drop below the 37-degree threshold where paved surfaces begin to ice over.
Slips, trips and falls are the third leading cause of workplace injuries, the insurance company said, citing the US Bureau of Labor Statistics.
The release from MEMIC additionally noted two cases of slip-and-fall injuries from the past year that are likely to exceed $500,000 in medical and replacement wage benefits.
“Loss control professionals operate from the premise that most every injury is preventable,” said Tony Payne, MEMIC senior vice president of external affairs. “This coming storm is expected to drop several inches of rain while temperatures are in the 50s, but the air will quickly turn frigid and remain below freezing for the next four or five days. That means extra caution and regular salting and sanding is required to keep roads, walks, steps, and parking lots free of ice.”
Slip-resistant footwear and ice cleats are also helpful in preventing slip injuries, Payne added.
The National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH) said in 2019 that slips, trips and falls were collectively the third leading cause of work-related injuries treated in hospital emergency rooms, accounting for 27% of 888,220 nonfatal injuries that resulted from time off of work. That same year, jurors in Florida awarded nearly $2 million to a woman who suffered multiple injuries after slipping and falling inside a local convenience store.
Additionally, according to the National Council on Compensation Insurance (NCCI), the average cost for work-related slip-and fall incidents amounted to $48,575 in 2020.
