Workplace corridors and areas see heavy footfall. It is therefore essential that employers make sure those areas are kept free from anything that could cause slips, trips and falls.

In this week’s case, our client walked a route he had made countless times before to reach the staff toilets. The bathroom was dark and, while trying to turn the light on, he slipped on a wet floor and was injured.

Our client did not want the same happening to anyone else, so despite the pain he was in he cleaned it up. When he then reported the accident and his employer inspected the area, it recorded there was no water on the floor. It was on the basis of that inspection and despite having our client’s explanation that liability was denied all the way to a trial.

As we had anticipated the judge accepted our client’s version of events and found that the employer did not have a reasonable system of cleaning and inspection.

Rachel Leach, from Thompsons Solicitors’ Liverpool office, represented our client. She said: “All employers, whether in heavy industry or an office, must ensure that all aspects of the workplace are kept free from substances that could cause accidents to occur. In this case a better system would have avoided the accident and then believing our client when he said he had mopped up the water would have avoided the trial.”