Personal Injury Expert Witness Consults Building Owners How To Avoid Floor Hazards

Aug. 15, 2012 - PRLog -- Southern California personal injury expert witness Gidon R. Vardi, Ph.D addressed building owners this week on ways to imporove floor safety.

“Any floor surface can become a hazard if not properly designed, installed and maintained” says Dr. Vardi.  “That is especially true when it comes to commercial floors where pedestrian traffic encounters a variety of distraction and obstacles.”

There are tens of thousands if not hundreds of thousands of commercial properties throughout California the expert pointed out. The exposure for a personal injury is always present no matter how safe the property owner thinks his building might be.

“From the minute the pedestrian pulls into the parking lot your exposure to the personal injury has began. The path of travel from the car to the front door is strewed with danger,” Dr. Vardi explained.  His mission is to educate property owners in ways to reduce the risk.  “The key word is reduce risk because it is virtually impossible to eliminate all risks,” he adds.

Uneven paving surfaces, debris and oil on the pavement, trip hazards, potholes, parking bumpers, and the old fashion banana peel are just some of the potential obstacles awaiting clients within the first 100 feet between his or her car and the front door.

Having provided expert testimony on personal injury cases to both the defense and plaintiff bar the over 20 years of consulting experience has taught Dr. Vardi that every building is unique and every unique building has both identifiable and unidentifiable hazards that need to be considered. Whereas everyone could certainly see and react to the potential for a slip on a banana peel someone who is not an expert may not be able to recognize the difference between a legal versus illegal riser at a sidewalk curb.

Dr. Vardi’s consulting firm, XL Services, web site has other important information on this subject http://xlservicesca.com. Within each building the variety of floor surfaces and changes in elevations create a challenge to both the designer and building maintenance crew, the expert explained. Be it an improperly selected floor mat, transition between the entrance door and lobby, or a set of stairs within the building, the personal injury expert witness can spot many of these hazards which are often the cause of claims and expensive trials.  

While the janitorial crew is mostly concerned about the time they spend on each floor what is really important is the floor cleaning liquid in the mop bucket. The soapy liquid can either improve or make worse the slip resistance of that granite floor in a beautiful, yet dangerous, office building entrance. The personal injury expert witness can advise how to avoid creating versus avoiding these hazards.

Personal injury expert witness is a key consultant to the property owner. Be it for establishing a proper path of travel, advising how to remove barriers under ADA codes, advising how to properly maintain a floor surface, or how to generally and effectively meet building code requirements, it is the personal injury expert witness who will help in reducing the risk of slip and falls. Dr. Vardi, a leading personal injury expert in Southern California, continues his mission to educate and advise property owners how to avoid hazards and improve floor safety.