Guest Safety at Resorts and Hotels
I’m Ed Smith, a Fair Oaks personal injury lawyer. When you travel, you expect your accommodations to be safe, whether it is at a resort, on a cruise ship or at a small hotel. Hotel and resort owners are obligated to make sure your stay is free from injury due to their negligence.
Premises Liability Law and Hotels
A hotel or vacation resort has a duty to anyone staying on the premises to keep the facility safe. This is a basic tenet of premises liability law. For instance, the owner, lessee or person in charge at a hotel has the responsibility of checking the facility for hazards. This is not limited to the guest rooms. It also covers the grounds, dining area, bar or swimming pool. In order to accomplish this, the person in charge/owner or his or her designated employees must inspect the premises on a routine basis. This ensures that hazards are either removed or warning signs are erected.
Failing to Maintain the Hotel
Once found, a hazard must be remedied as quickly as possible. Let’s say that a broken step was found in a stairwell. Once discovered, the hotel must repair the step, or let visitors know of its presence and perhaps close off the stairwell, providing an alternate route. If that is not done, and a guest falls on the step, the hotel has breached its duty to the guest. Another example would be a spilled drink in a dimly-lit hotel bar. If a reasonable period of time passed and a guest slipped and fell, the hotel may be considered liable for injuries the guest suffered. In short, if the hotel has enough time to clean it up and didn’t, they are responsible.
Slip and Fall Injuries in Hotels
According to Cornell University, slip and fall accidents account for 42 percent of injuries in hotels. They happen mostly on flat surfaces. Overall, slips and falls are the reason more than two million people go to the emergency room each year. Of these, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention estimates that about 800,000 individuals are hospitalized. The primary reasons for hospitalization are head injury and fractures, including pelvic fracture.
Assaults/Security
It is the hotel’s duty to provide ample security for guests. Security-related injuries account for roughly 40 percent of all injuries at hotels right behind slips and falls. Typically, it is easy for criminals to prey on vacationers. While a hotel is not responsible for the criminal act itself, by failing to provide adequate security, the hotel fails in their duty to guests. This is particularly true if the hotel should have been aware that assaults/robberies might happen. Updating security at the facility to meet the level of care that is needed is placed squarely on the facility’s owner/person in charge of the property. If not done, a claim for negligent security can be filed.
Swimming Pool Safety
Swimming pools are a frequent site of slips and falls. However, other injuries can and do happen. Electrocution accidents occur in swimming pools. According to the Consumer Product Safety Commission, electrical wiring is a chief culprit of swimming pool electrocution. Wiring should be checked and updated to make sure there is no leakage of electricity into the pool. Sump pumps, vacuums and washers can also be at fault. The CPSC instructs commercial establishments to check to see if lights, switches and receptacles have ground-fault circuit-interrupters installed. If a hotel guest is shocked or electrocuted in a hotel pool that has not been properly wired or inspected for stray electrical currents, the facility would be responsible for any injury or wrongful death that occurs.
Fair Oaks Personal Injury Lawyer
I’m Ed Smith, a Fair Oaks personal injury lawyer. If you or a family member has suffered injuries at a hotel or other resort facility, you need the help an experienced injury lawyer can provide. Phone my office at anytime, or call my free phone line at (800) 404-5400. I will provide you with friendly and free advice.
I’ve assisted residents of Fair Oaks and Northern California with traumatic injuries since 1982. Whether it’s dog bites, products liability, traumatic brain injury or pedestrian accidents, I work hard to make sure clients get the compensation they deserve.
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Enjoy your visit to my website, AutoAccident.com. It contains a wide range of information about personal injuries.
Photo Attribution: https://pixabay.com/en/lobby-reception-hall-hotel-346426/
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