Faulty Handrails
Handrails are an important safety feature on steps and in slippery areas such as bathtubs or showers. Handrails provide support and something to grab on to in order to prevent you from falling or losing your footage. OSHA requires handrails in various commercial and office applications and building codes also impose requirements related to handrails on both private property and in public buildings. Unfortunately, sometimes property owners fail to maintain the handrails in a safe manner and accidents result.
When accidents happen due to faulty handrails, property owners or those in control of the property may be held accountable for injuries that result. If you or a loved one has suffered a fall or other injury as a result of faulty handrails, it is very important that you understand your legal rights to make a claim against the property owner. The Boston personal injury attorneys at Jeffrey Glassman Injury Lawyers can help. For more than 19 years, we've been representing injured victims throughout Massachusetts. Let us put that legal experience to work for you in your faulty handrail case. Contact us today at (617) 777-7777 or using our online form to learn how we can help.
Massachusetts Laws on Faulty HandrailsInjuries due to faulty handrails may occur for many reasons. For instance, you may grab the handrail and slip when walking down the stairs or going down an escalator. This injury might occur in a commercial establishment such as a store, or in a friend's private house that you were invited to.
Both commercial establishments and private property owners can be liable for faulty handrail accidents if they are found to have breached a duty in failing to correct the faulty handrail or in failing to warn you of the handrail and its dangers. If you live in an apartment and your landlord installed faulty handrails on the stairs or in the shower and bath area and you suffer a fall in either space, then your landlord may also be held responsible for the injuries resulting from the handrail accident.
When a faulty handrail accident occurs, you will need to first show that the property owner breached a duty to you by failing to ensure the handrail was safe. You will then need to show that your injuries were a direct result of the faulty handrail. For example, you could present medical testimony, a police report of the accident, maintenance records and eyewitness testimony indicating that you fell because you grabbed onto the handrail and lost your footing.
Once you have proven that you suffered an injury as a direct result of the faulty handrail, the property owner or occupier can then be held responsible for paying medical costs and lost wages that resulted from the accident. Damages for pain and suffering and emotional distress associated with your injury may also be obtained from the property owner/occupier in faulty handrail cases. Your personal injury attorney will help you to better understand the types of damages available to you based on your injuries and will help you to either settle on a fair sum to compensate you for those injuries or will help you take your case to court so a jury can award you the damages you deserve.
To learn more about how a Boston premises liability lawyer can help you after an accident caused by faulty handrails, contact Jeffrey Glassman Injury Lawyers today at (617) 777-7777 or using our online form.