Stores owe their customers more than value and convenience. They also owe them safety. Store owners are responsible for ensuring that customers are not hurt while shopping and that includes every type of store from grocery and drug stores to fine department and discount stores. If you or someone you care about has been hurt because of an unsafe situation in a store, read below and find out what you can do to get paid for your damages.

Customers Should Use Care

Using due care comes into this issue. Customers should be careful when they are visiting a store. That means using common, basic sense when walking through the store, removing items from shelves, using restroom facilities, and more. Rules are often posted that direct customers toward a safer shopping experience. A common rule is to seek help from a store employee when trying to reach things in difficult-to-reach areas. If a door is labeled "employees only" and you enter it, you cannot take action when you are hurt beyond that point. However, many accidents that happen in stores are not the customer's fault.

Common Injury Situations

Stores often appear to be safe places, but commercial buildings are not like residential buildings. Wiring, plumbing, roofing, shelving, flooring, and other aspects of a commercial building are different because of the impact on customers and financial reasons. What might not be a safety hazard at your home could be deadly in a store. Some examples of safety issues include:

• High-voltage cables that cross a customer's path can trip or even cause an electric shock
• Shelves that are overloaded and could collapse at the slightest touch
• Mats and carpets that are loose can cause customers to trip and fall
• Wet areas near faulty air-conditioning or freezer units that cause a slipping hazard
• Piles of merchandise in the aisles of a store that can fall and cause injuries

Failure to Warn

Busy stores are often challenged to keep up with hazards, but they must do what they can to at least warn customers about them. For example, even if a rainy day makes a dry floor impossible, the store must post warning signs so that customers can be alert to the slippery floor. However, allowing a known hazard to exit without a warning or rectification can mean the store is responsible for the customer's injuries.

Injury Damages

When a customer is hurt in a store because of the store's negligence, they may be owed for certain forms of damage. The below forms of damage are common in retail injury situations:

• Medical expenses
• Lost or damaged personal property
• Pain and suffering
• Lost wages

To find out more, speak to a personal injury law firm like Martinez King Law Firm, PLLC.