South Florida Injury Lawyer Blog

School can be a dangerous. Every day, there are students and teachers injured from accidents at school in Palm Beach.

A new campaign from Palm Beach County school officials, called "Safety Matters," is trying to reduce the risks of these accidents. Through the campaign, school officials are urging educators to perform regular fire drills and playground inspections -- it also seeks to report all accidents, according to the Sun Sentinel.

Schools report that they don't provide compensation for claims that can't prove that the school's negligent behavior caused the accident. Parents across the county are concerned for their child's safety and want to be ensured that their student is learning in a safe environment.

"Parents have said, 'If it leaves a mark, I probably need to know about it,'" said Linda King, the risk and safety manager for the school district.

Our Palm Beach child injury lawyers understand that parents expect school teachers and administrators to provide a safe learning environment for their children. Educators should be trained in not only how to prevent school-related injuries, but also how to effectively handle them should one occur. The new campaign was launched after local schools reported an increase in the number of campus injuries from the previous school year.

The most school accidents ever were reported in 2010. These accident reports are now kept on an online system, whereas before they were kept on paper and filed away unless they were needed to file legal claims.

An accident can happen anywhere. There are ways teachers can help keep students and themselves injury free. Floors should be free of debris and trip hazards, sharp objects should be removed from the classrooms and all children should be supervised at all times.

Recently, the Sun Sentinel looked through the student accident reports and workers' compensation information from eight schools from 2010 and 2011.

Accident reports at local schools:

-J.C. Mitchell Elementary School: Nearly 130 accidents.

-Boca Raton Middle School: 70 accidents.

-West Boca Raton High School: 60 accidents.

-Eagles Landing Middle School west of Boca Raton: More than 20 workers' compensation claims.

In the 2010 and 2011 school year, the school district spent nearly $15 million on workers' compensation claims. Student-related accidents resulted in 170 insurance claims during the same year. This is seven more than the previous school year. The school district has roughly 174,000 students.

Accidents involving students don't always result in a compensation payout, according to King. The school district will only provide compensation for the accident if it can be proven that it happened because of the school's negligence.

There were more than 40 schools built in the area since 2000 and another 50 modernized since then. Many of these buildings reported safety violations. However, reports indicate these violations have dropped by nearly 95 percent.

Continue reading "Officials Report Increase in School-Related Accidents in Palm Beach County" »

The National Safety Council uses summer to raise awareness about the top causes of preventable injuries and deaths.

This includes slip and fall accidents in Boca Raton and elsewhere as these accidents claim the lives of many residents each year.

According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, every year one in every three adults that are age 65 and older will fall. Fall accidents are extremely dangerous as they can lead to severe injuries, including broken bones, joints and traumatic brain injury.

Palm Beach personal injury attorneys understand how common these accidents are. In 2009 alone, more than 2 million people experienced nonfatal injuries from falls and were treated in emergency rooms around the country. More than 581,000 of these fall victims were hospitalized. These fall accidents totaled a direct medical cost of more than $19 billion. Nearly $180 million resulted from fatal falls while the remaining $19 billion were for non-fatal fall injuries.

The NSC offers these tips to residents to help prevent serious fall accidents:

-Exercise. Make sure the exercises you're doing strengthen your leg muscles and increase your balance.

-Have your doctor review the medications you're taking. Make sure that the combination of medications you're taking aren't causing dizziness or drowsiness.

-Visit the optometrist. Make sure your prescription glasses or contacts are up to date to maximize your visibility.

-Avoid distractions, such as texting or reading while walking. These activities can lead to a slip, trip or fall.

-Be aware of your surroundings at all times. Slip and fall accidents can happen in any location, even in familiar areas.

-Increase lighting in your household.

-Make sure that all surfaces are secure, dry and clean.

Falls are the number one cause of injury death for those over are age 65 of older. They are also the most common cause of nonfatal injuries and hospital admissions for trauma. They are also the most common cause of traumatic brain injuries, or TBI. In 2000 alone, TBI accounted for nearly 50 percent of all fatal falls among older adults. Older adults are also likely to experience a bone fracture from a nonfatal fall. The most common are fractures of the spine, hip, forearm, leg, ankle, pelvis, upper arm and hand.

People who don't suffer an injury from a fall are even at an increased risk for eventually suffering a fall injury. After falling, the person will most likely develop a fear of falling that may cause them to limit their activities in the future. By limiting their activities, they are likely to experience a reduction in mobility and a loss of physical fitness, which will in turn actually increase their actual risk of falling.

Continue reading "NSC Raises Awareness about Slip and Fall Accidents in Boca Raton and Elsewhere" »

Retailers and lawmakers are making too big a deal out of a new law that went into effect July 1, which requires a South Florida injury lawyer to prove that a business knew or should have known about a dangerous condition that resulted in a slip and fall accident.

Lawyers and Settlements reports that Florida had been among the best places to try such cases, because an attorney for a fall victim needed only to prove that the accident happened -- not that a business knew or should have known of the dangerous condition. Samantha Hunter Padgett, an attorney for the Florida Retail Association, told the Naples Daily News that the new law puts both sides on an "equal footing."

"The burden was on the defendant to prove they had maintained the premises in a safe condition," Padgett said. "Cases will still move forward and go to court. They still have to prove the premises had a duty to them and failed."

In reality, customers trip or slip on business property because of an unsafe condition. In just about every instance, a business or property owner either knew, or should have known of the unsafe condition. Wet floors, loose handrails, poor lighting and uneven sidewalks or pavement are frequent causes of fall injuries. Customers are injured all the time because of careless business owners.

And fall injuries are a very real threat to the health and welfare of older adults. Each year, 15,800 older adults die as a result of fall injuries and nearly 2 million are treated in hospital emergency rooms, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

This is just another attempt to curb the rights of citizens on behalf of big business -- Publix Supermarkets was reportedly among the large retailers that pushed for the change in law. Supporters of the new rule, including Rep. Gary Aubuchon, R-Cape Coral, said slip and fall cases for retailers in the Sunshine State were double the national average.

Apparently, the fact that the Sunshine State is full of older adults was lost on him.

Continue reading "South Florida injury lawyers should represent victims of falls on business property" »