TiddlyPom

I've got rather badly injured on holiday. I slipped on some wet tiles on some stairs... went down three stairs, bent my foot the wrong way and snapped my fibula. This resulted in surgery, a plate and two screws through my leg all in time for Christmas day.
The apartment complex we're staying in has one sign near the pool saying 'These tiles are slippery when wet' but there's nothing on stairs or anywhere else....
I'm wondering if I can claim any type of compo or does the sign absolve them?
I'm not allowed to bear weight for 6 weeks, then I have four weeks of 'light weight bearing' and then I have to have the screws removed...
And then physio.
It's totally stopped me from working and I won't get sick pay...

The water on the stairs was from the rain and it had pooled in places, hence the slip.

I'm not a legal compo chaser, just wondering if I could as I am so screwed on the work front.
Anyone with any similar situation?

carolinephillips

possibly- speak to Maurice Blackburn lawyers- first consult is free- to see if you have a case. they were good on over the phone advice for employment laws/disability discrimination.

brissybee

Someone might argue the "slippery when wet" sign is acknowlegement of the installation of potentially dangerous facilities.

Go your hardest.

What idiot puts slippery tiles around a pool or on steps?

Bonnie65

Especially when it's foreseeable that people will be wearing footwear like thongs with very little grip.....

chris955

Sorry to hear about your injury. I am a little old fashioned and think that around a wet area the floor may well be slippery and extra care should be taken. If there is a sign saying that the tiles could be slippery when wet then in a sensible world that is probably sufficient but in this litigious world they probably need a sign on every step.

moneypenny20

She didn't say they were slippery tiles, she said they were slippery when wet which would cover them, in my opinion anyway but I'm not a legal bod. Obviously (famous last word) if it had been raining or was an area near a pool, the chances are the tiles will be slippery, even tarmac, normal concrete and rubber flooring gets slipppery when wet.

Sorry hon and no pun intended, I don't think you have a leg to stand on.

Bermudashorts

Signs like that really irritate me. It might well be informing that it is slippery but that doesn't make it safe and it is not always possible to avoid slipping on slippary surfaces.

If the accident meant that I couldn't work and had no other insurance protection then I would be inclined to look into it further.

jothefw

Have you seen the road signs that say "Only overtake if safe" Madness!


To OP - I suspect they'll say you should've paid attention to the sign, even though it was really small. But that said I think if you were prepared to fight it you could get somewhere with it being too small, not near the area etc. It comes to whether you can face the torture of the fight?

A friend of mine in the UK slipped on a grape in Tescos once and she was in agony (not helped by my initial giggle and the image she described ) but Tescos refused to accept any blame for not having clean floors, slippy floors etc and she tried quite hard because she too was out of pocket from not being able to work. Interestingly, afterwards these holey rubber mats were put right through the fruit section in our local supermarket

BadgeIsBack

Hi TP.

I am not clear how far away from the pool these stairs are, and whether the wetness was caused by your own dripping (etc)? In other words you have a duty of care (perhaps). Naturally, I think the apartment owner has some duty of care to protect from a range of incidents associated with the infrastructure of the building etc and there may be some redress - but I think unlikely. You would perhaps have to prove an issue with drainage or some complete failure of the owner to do what a reasonable person would have done, or planned etc.

Best of luck - and a successful (if not speedy) recovery. :-)

Dreamy

I just did a quick google search on 'compensation slip wet tiles nsw' and this came up - might be something for you to look into further

(sorry I can't get the ruling up, if I still had access to the law library online it'd be more use!, but you should get the gist of it by googling)

TiddlyPom

Ah the voice of reason. I am also a little old fashioned. I have never sued anyone for anything though I could well have.
There was extra care being taken. In fact, seconds before I slipped, I had said to my children to take more care because it felt really slippery. I was holding on even tighter but of course I trod onto this puddle of water and went flying. There was simply no traction whatsoever on the tiles.
There is one sign on the way in to the complex which is on the first staircase. That's it for the entire place apart from the pool area which was separately signed.
So extra care WAS being taken and I fell and broke my leg.
Probably in this litigious world, one would think that anyone knowing that tiles were dangerous, putting a non slip grip on the edge of each step would have been the vaguely simple and totally sensible thing to do. It's a cheap and totally workable option don't you think?
How much more care should I have taken than holding on tightly to the handrail and walking slowly and carefully? Surely that should be a reasonable amount of care to have taken and all that was expected of me?

When I mentioned they needed a sign saying 'steps are lethal when wet', one of the staff said 'It's been said before'....
So if she said that and they've done nothing???



Right away. Nowhere near. This had nothing to do with the pool at all. I wasn't in it or wet ... just walking down the stairs from my appt.

The water came from heavy rain which caused pools of water to collect on the stairs. No attempt was made to remove pools of water, it was just left to drain away. Obviously I stepped onto the pool and went flying. My own duty of care has been previously mentioned.

I think they have a duty of care too.
The complex manager told me that he'd had all the tiles removed around the pool because they were the red ones I slipped on. You can imagine what a skating rink that must have been beforehand.
The tiles all around the place were red terracotta tiles with no grip whatsoever. Whilst we were there, kids were slipping all over the place. I cannot believe that mine is the first accident there.

Thanks for all the replies... thankfully I've already had some legal help after someone's contacted me here, so have done what they suggested with photographs and video of the areas. We'll see how it goes.

TiddlyPom

Thanks so much...
That's really helpful. x

Bernieboy

I think you have a decent case Tiddles,go for it big time

Kelli28

You'd have a very good case, displaying a sign admitting tiles are slippery is them admitting they know they are hazardous and failing to correct the fault.

Richie Redlands

Did you take photos ? Was the incident reported to the owners of the apartment? Find out if this has happened to others. (when we go to a supermarket and something is spilt then you have a sign to warn your customers, if as a consequence someone falls arse over tit, then the question of a duty of care arises. Your lucky, just imagine if it was an old dear, breaking a hip....if you feel the owner was irresponsible then sue for compensation.