Compensation for Tripping on Office Door Steps

Can I claim compensation for tripping on office door steps when complaints were made to my employer about the danger that the steps posed?

You may be eligible to claim compensation for tripping on office door steps if you can meet the required criteria. In order to claim compensation, an injury that required medical attention must have been sustained during the course of your employment, and it must have been due to the negligence of a third party. Additionally, because the hazard in your case was office door steps, it must be established that the design of the steps was not suitable for a public building.

Building regulations in Ireland govern the dimensions of steps and what is acceptable and safe. Your employer may be held liable for your injury if the door steps of your office are steeper and/or narrower than stated in the section of the Building Regulations (1997) containing technical guidance and you may be able to make your claim for trip on office door steps injury against him or her.

Because an office is classed as a semi-private building, a comparatively high number of people probably use the steps, although not everybody will be completely familiar with their width or steepness. If the office’s door steps are narrower and steeper than the maximum levels stipulated by the official guidelines, your employer is legally obliged to make changes to the staircase to ensure they meet current building regulations. It is possible for an injury compensation for office steps trip to be made if your employer failed to do so as he or she would likely be considered to have failed in their duty of care.

It is important that a record of your injury was documented in your employer’s Accident Report Book detailing the circumstances of your accident and the time and date it occurred. Since complaints had been issued to your employer, and the problem was not rectified, you may find other reports of accidents that happened due to your employer’s negligence which could be used to substantiate your compensation for tripping on office door steps claim.

If the height and width of the steps are found to be within the maximum and minimum limits, it may still be possible to claim for trip on office door steps injury if the steps are dangerous. For example, the “nosing” – the amount that each step juts out – is covered by the Building Regulations, as are the risers and tread on the steps.

Irrespective of the measurements of the steps, you would be well advised to speak with a solicitor about the circumstances of your injury, who can assess your injury compensation for office steps trip claim in the free initial consultation – which most solicitors offer – to determine its validity. Once your right to claim compensation for tripping on office door steps has been confirmed, your solicitor can launch a thorough investigation in preparation of your case, in order to maximise the potential of success and of recovering compensation for your injury in the swiftest possible manner.