With danger comes opportunity, however, as fall months and the holiday shopping season drive large crowds, sales, and high revenues. To make the most out of this profitable opportunity, property owners are encouraged to get proactive in accident prevention. In addition to hiring maintenance personnel and reviewing proper cleaning protocol, property owners are wise to evaluate the premises and think of cost effective ways to invest in safety products that will keep heavily trafficked areas clean, dry, and safe.

Mats, Stanchions, Umbrella Wrappers, & More

1. Outdoor Rubber Matting

Safety mats made of 100% commercial-grade rubber Nitrile make superb outdoor entrance mats. With deep surface grooves, these mats aggressively “squeegee” shoes clean of both dirt and moisture.

2. Indoor Walk-Off Mats

Just inside entryways, carpet surfaced “walk off mats” are an ideal supplement to outdoor mats. Not only do these heavy duty mats deliver a high degree of traction on slick entryway floors, they also provide a second line of defense against incoming dirt, moisture, and bacteria. After crossing both outdoor mats and indoor walk-off mats, industry experts estimate that up to 60% of incoming debris can be contained and prevented from entering the rest of the facility.

3. Recessed Grill Systems

Some facilities experience such a high degree of visitor inflow and outflow that special solutions are needed. For these facilities, recessed grill systems provide superior cleaning and containment of incoming debris.

4. Crowd Control Systems

Beyond the entryway, property owners must make an effort to control crowds, keep products accessible, and provide service in an efficient manner. Crowd control systems can help, giving managers the ability to assemble custom line queues to organize customers according to their needs. Moreover, effective crowd management can significantly improve the rate at which customers are serviced, which ultimately enhances both revenue and customer experience.

5. Umbrella Bag Dispensers

Both rain and snow present a serious problem for property owners, particularly when guests rush throw entryways with wet or snow covered umbrellas. On days of inclement weather, wet umbrellas track water well beyond the absorbent surfaces of entrance mats, causing puddles and slick spots in hard-to-see areas. Wet umbrella bag dispensers provide a highly effective solution, enabling guests to wrap their umbrellas upon entering the building.

Shop Automatic Wet Umbrella Wrappers

Visit Umbrella Bagger for additional information on wet umbrella bag dispensers, disposable bags, and other safety products. For order information and assistance, call toll free 1-855-328-8100.

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In some cases, investments in customer experience might include physical products that improve the in-store sales process. Accessible product displays, for example, make it easy and entertaining for customers to try products prior to purchase. Vibrant logo mats likewise improve customer experience, reinforcing the company’s brand image while also keeping heavily trafficked customer areas clean, dry, and safe. During rainy months, another new and unique product has rapidly risen in popularity among businesses in our nation’s capital: wet umbrella bag dispensers.

It’s easy to see what wet umbrella bag stands– the units that dispense disposable plastic bags in which visitors store wet umbrellas– are such a popular product this fall. The product itself provides 2 valuable benefits to both visitors and businesses. For visitors, the forward-thinking safety solutions serve to tame otherwise pesky wet umbrellas, making it easy for customers to stay neat and dry while shopping. This function confers a substantial benefit to the business or property owner as well, preventing the accumulation of rainwater on floor spaces that ultimately causes slips, trips, falls, and liability.

Aiming for a Safe, User-Friendly Fall

But just how big of a problem are slip and fall accidents this fall? To answer this important question, we turn to two authorities on workplace safety and accident prevention. The first is the Liberty Mutual Research Institute, an organization that produced a study in 2010 indicating that slip and fall accidents at work cost American businesses upwards of $13 billion in 2008 alone (i).

If the Liberty Mutual statistic isn’t alarming enough, businesses and property owners can look to American insurance company CNA. In 2010, CNA produced a case study in which 57% of property owners reported slip and fall accidents as the most costly and time consuming category of disputes in 2008 (ii).

Read More on Wet Umbrella Bag Stands

Visit Umbrella Bagger online or click here to download the press release.

Sources:

(i) “Workplace Safety Index.” Liberty Mutual Research Institute. Accessed 2 August 2013.

(ii) “New Techniques for Preventing Slips and Falls.” CNA. Accessed 8 September 2013.

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Property Owner Liability: Understanding Your Duty

To understand why wet umbrellas present such a risk to businesses and property owners, it is helpful to first cover a few basics on property owner liability. A legal concept, property owner liability explores the extent to which the owner of a storefront, facility, or other piece of property is responsible, or liable, for the incidents that occur on the premises.

By law, all property owners have a responsibility to both keep their premises relatively safe while also warning guests of potential dangers. However, the degree to which commercial and even residential property owners are liable for others varies depending on whether the guest is a trespasser, licensee, or invitee.

Who Is Your Guest? Trespassers are those individuals who enter a piece of property without the permission of the owner. Licensees are deemed “informal” guests, and owners have a certain degree of responsibility to keep them safe. Invitees are individuals who are “invited” onto the premises, either expressly or under the assumption that they will do business.

In this way, customers, clients, and any other individual who is invited to do business is considered an invitee by law. As invitees, property owners owe these individuals the highest degree of care and might be deemed liable for the injuries they sustain while on the property.

Top 5 Facts About Property Owner Liability

To prevent claims of liability from crippling your business, take a moment to review these quick facts about property owner liability. Take a strong step towards effective liability prevention by reviewing these concepts with employees, especially those who manage customer relations or maintenance.

1. If you invite a guest on to your property to conduct business, you might be liable for the injuries they sustain.
2. Property owners have 4 specific responsibilities to commercial guests, or invitees: i) Regularly inspect the property; ii) Find dangerous conditions; iii) Warn invitees of the danger; iv) Repair all dangerous conditions, to the maximum extent possible.
3. Negligence can arise if you fail to perform the duties listed above.
4. Liability by Omission: Failure to act might trigger liability.
5. Employers are liable for the negligence of their employees.

How Do Wet Umbrellas Trigger Liability Claims?

After reviewing the basic concepts of property owner liability (sometimes also referred to as premises liability), it is easy to see how wet umbrellas might lead to accidents and costly liability claims for business owners. Here are the 3 most common ways that wet umbrellas might cause accidents, as explored in last week’s article, Why Are Wet Umbrellas Dangerous?

1. Entrance Mats Provide Limited Safety

Entrance mats are designed to dry shoes, contain moisture/debris, and improve overall safety and walking conditions. They are not designed to maintain the rainwater that wet umbrellas are known to track past entryways, however, especially when guests do the shake and splash.

2. Guest Shake Umbrellas, Splash Water Across Floor

In an attempt to dry their umbrellas, guests often open and close them repeatedly while just inside the entryway. And while this might be effective in drying the umbrella, it also sends streams of rainwater, snow and ice well beyond the entrance mats. This is particularly dangerous because the liquid accumulates into puddles in areas that guests and maintenance staffs might not expect. The longer the puddles linger, the larger and more dangerous they become.

3. Slips and Falls Cost Billions

According to the Liberty Mutual Workplace Safety Index, slip and fall accidents cost American businesses an estimated $13 billion in workers compensation and other costs. Though the study focused primarily on employee-related workplace injuries, it nevertheless illustrates that slip and fall accidents are common, costly, and a priority when it comes to liability prevention.

Limit Your Liability with Effective Safety Products

To learn more about our state of the art umbrella bag dispensers, visit our Automatic Wet Umbrella Wrappers online store. Readers are also invited to contact customer service at 855-328-8100.

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