Slips, Trips and Falls Articles

This case involves a woman who visited a haunted house in the weeks leading up to Halloween. While ascending a dark unlit stairway within the attraction, an actor dressed as a monster unexpectedly jumped-out onto the landing, startling the plaintiff and causing her to lose her balance and fall backwards down the stair.


Architect and Premises Safety Expert, Mark Williams, AIA, NCARB was retained to investigate the incident and determine if dangerous conditions caused the incident to occur.

In this article, architect & construction expert, Will Martin discusses the project owner’s role in promoting safety on and around the construction site. Our experts are frequently retained to investigate injuries to construction workers and the general public to explain the responsibilities and liability of the various parties.

This article discusses several stairway codes and standards relevant to pedestrian safety. The article introduces the importance of consistent tread depth and riser height for preventing fall injuries. It also discusses the importance of handrails and other prominent stairway features.

The premises safety experts at Robson Forensic investigate many fall injuries related to stairs and other walkways. Call or submit an inquiry through our website for help determining which of our experts is best suited to address the specific technical issues in your case.

In this article, architect and retail premises safety expert, Catherine Peterman discusses the appropriate use of floor mats and runners.

When properly selected and maintained, floor mats can be part of an effective program to improve pedestrian safety. However, improper or poorly maintained mats can be hazardous and can cause falls.

In this article, biomechanical engineer, Dr. Valentina Ngai provides an introductory lesson on forensic gait analysis. She discusses how experts use injury data, combined with an understanding of the human gait, to determine what happened in unwitnessed or disputed incidents. Analyses of this type are frequently used to determine the fall mechanism (such as slip or trip), as well as if, how and possibly in what sequence the pathologic loading occurred.

In this article, biomedical engineer, Valentina Ngai discusses the process by which it is possible to reconstruct an incident by examining injury data. In this instance, Dr. Ngai was tasked with determining the way in which the plaintiff fell down a set of stairs.

In this article, architect and premises safety expert, Anthony Shinsky discusses various aspects of flooring that influence pedestrian safety.

In this article, the premises safety experts at Robson Forensic discuss relevant standards and what can be done with wheelstops (parking blocks) to make parking lots safer for pedestrians.

This article provides an introduction into the basics of exterior property maintenance, the implications on premises safety, and some information on relevant standards to get your investigation started.

In this case, William E. J. Martin, AIA, NCARB, who was previously a licensed general contractor, was retained to determine whether rigging equipment, which was left outside of the secured construction site, created a dangerous condition that caused the plant employee’s injuries.

A premises safety expert at Robson Forensic was retained to investigate a case in which the plaintiff slipped and fell on an icy walkway. Our expert was tasked with determining whether the plaintiff fell on the sidewalk or the parking lot, and whether or not the defendant’s use of cat litter on the parking lot, as a treatment for icy conditions, created a dangerous condition.

In this article, the premises safety experts at Robson Forensic provide an introduction to the 2009 International Building Code stairway design requirements for new buildings. Particular attention is paid to the aspects of stairway design and construction that are most often associated with slip, trip, and fall injuries.

Falls are the most common and costly accident type for many commercial businesses. In the following article, published in the April 2011 Newsletter for HospitalityLawyer.com, the Premises Safety group at Robson Forensic provides a narrative regarding some of the most common causes of slip, trip, and fall injuries at hotels and retail establishments. The article also provides valuable precautions that should be taken to reduce the likelihood of fall injuries on stairs and walkways.