Manufacturers beware: a school teacher who fell and injured herself on some tiles is suing the manufacturer claiming that the tiles were faulty and not fit for the purpose for which they were sold. The tiles were marketed as meeting or exceeding slip resistance standards and guidelines. They were installed in an elementary school entrance hall and she fell in an area where snow and ice had been brought in on the shoes of pupils. She is seeking damages for loss of her leg, the bottom half of which was amputated, medical expenses, rehabilitation and life care expenses, pain and suffering, loss of enjoyment of life, permanent disability and disfigurement, loss of earning capacity and her husband is suing for loss of consortium (which apparently means that he can no longer enjoy his conjugal rights). She is also suing the school for negligence claiming that they didn’t maintain the area properly.
On a similar note, Morrisons has just been fined £12000 for installing terrazzo in a food preparation area after being warned about their use by HSE officials, who had had problems with them in other stores, and whilst the blame (and cost) was not, to my knowledge, passed on down the line to the suppliers, there is nothing to say that in future there may not be a claim for supplying products which are subsequently found to be unsafe.
The first incident is of course happening in America and even the local public seem divided between those that know the teacher involved and say that she must be doing it for the right reasons as she is a “good and beautiful human being” and those who find it ridiculous and money grabbing. But this sort of attitude is becoming more wide spread over here too, and it pays to ensure that any claims you make about the performance of your products, whether manufacturing or selling them are possible to prove and that safety claims for floor tiles can be backed up properly.
