While it will never be possible to prevent all slip and fall injuries in your employee parking lot, being proactive can help prevent most of these injuries. When an employee is injured in the parking area, you may be held liable under workman compensation laws. Learn how to make your parking lot a safer place for your employees.
There are many types of common hazards found in employee parking lots. Asphalt and other parking lot surfaces deteriorate over time. Vehicles leaking fluids can cause slick spots while rain can cause puddles to form. It is extremely easy to trip over a speedbump or a tire stop. Trash building up in the parking lot can make it easy to fall. Sometimes, people are late for work or want to get home to their families after work and run in parking lots.
The first thing you will want to do to reduce slip and fall injuries in your parking lot is to develop a written policy. The policy should outline where particular employees can park, such as interns, full-time employees, part-time employees and night shift workers. It should also state the parking lot speed and that employees are not allowed to litter in the parking lot. Consequences for breaking employee parking lot rules should be clearly stated, and you will need to enforce them.
The next step is to look at your parking lot design. You will want to consider the number of parking spaces that you need. The average parking lot space is 9 feet by 16 feet. Ideally, an employee parking lot will have no tire stops or speed bumps when it is properly designed. Decide on the signage that you need so that everyone knows which way to go allowing them to drive smoothly in the parking lot. You will also want to make sure that all areas of the parking lot are well lit.
It is vital that your parking lot drain properly to prevent slip and fall accidents. The faster that water drains off your employee parking lot because your employees are not walking through water puddles and tracking it into the building. Therefore, you may need to create catchment areas for the times that Orlando gets heavy rains quickly. At a minimum, your parking area should have a 2 percent slope.
You should also make sure that your parking lot surface is properly maintained. Start by putting down a new surface if needed or repairing the current one. Then, get sealcoating in Orlando professionally performed so that the parking lot does not break down as quickly. Even if you do not need any repair work done, remember that you need sealcoating in Orlando approximately every three years to keep it maintained.
