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.

The post Washington DC Businesses Welcome Automatic Umbrella Wrappers This Fall appeared first on Umbrella Bagger Blog.

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.

The post Avoiding Costly Litigation: Visitors, Wet Umbrellas, and Liability appeared first on Umbrella Bagger Blog.

Umbrellas, Rainwater, and Safety

Many businesses are hesitant to invest in new safety products that do not offer a direct and tangible benefit to the bottom line. In today’s economy, managers and risk management teams are often under immense pressure to focus on technological investments that yield large-scale efficiencies in major areas of business operations like manufacturing, marketing, and research and development.

Visitor safety and customer relationship management are essential focal points for businesses looking to increase revenues and efficiencies, however, particularly those involved in retail sales, property management, and the hospitality industry. For these businesses, wet umbrella bag stands provide numerous benefits at a low cost that is easy to manage.

To more easily make this cost-benefit analysis, it helps to assess the 4 main reasons why wet umbrellas are dangerous for business.

1. Entrance Mats Dry Shoes Only

Businesses that feel entrance matting and safety signs are adequate in preventing slip and fall accidents are wise to reconsider the reach of their safety initiatives. Rubber mats, carpet mats, and other flooring materials are highly effective in wiping the dirt and moisture from the soles of shoes. However, they do not prevent moisture and debris from being carried past the entryway by umbrellas. Moreover, guests who perform the “Shake and Splash” inevitably throw rainwater, snow, and ice well past entrance mats and on to lobby floors.

2. Guests Are Prone to the ‘Shake and Splash’

We’ve all seen it before: A guest quickly enters the building, taking refuge from the storm outside. They carefully wipe their shoes repeatedly, consciously trying to avoid a slip and fall. Then, they vigorously open and close their wet umbrella several times, shaking it dry so they may carry it more comfortably throughout the interior of the building.

The problem: The popular “Shake and Splash” move throws precipitation beyond the reach of entrance mats. Rainwater, snow, and/or ice are left to melt and form dangerous puddles on uncovered areas of lobby floors. Responsibility then falls on the shoulders of the maintenance staff to clean the mess before another guest accidentally slips and falls. And for commercial locations that experience a great deal of visitor inflow/outflow, or for those with limited maintenance resources, the risk of accident increases with each guest who arrives.

3. Slip and Fall Accidents Are a Costly Problem

Slip and fall accidents are a costly problem, and it’s estimated that American businesses lost approximately $12 billion to such insurance claims in 2010 alone. This figure is courtesy of the Liberty Mutual Research Institute, and it was published in the organization’s annual safety report titled 2012 Workplace Safety Index. The report also indicated that slip and fall accidents are 1 of the 10 most costly categories of workplace accidents that has actually increased in cost since 1998.

4. Property Owners May Face Liability

By law, property owners are required to take reasonable measures to keep premises safe for those who visit. Property owners owe the highest level of duty and care for invitees—those individuals who are invited on to the premises. It’s vital for business owners to understand that a vast number of jurisdictions consider customers to be invitees, as the opportunity to conduct business in the store/on location carries with it an unspoken invitation to enter.

And while lawmakers do not require business owners to give guests a disposable umbrella bag on rainy days, they do require property owners to take reasonable efforts to keep the premises safe. This includes covering slippery floors with floor mats that increase traction, as well as proactively cleaning liquid accumulation and dangerous puddles. In this way, wet umbrella bag dispensers keep businesses a step ahead, preventing rainwater accumulation and the liability that comes with it.

Learn More About Wet Umbrella Bag Dispensers

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.

The post Why Are Wet Umbrellas Dangerous? appeared first on Umbrella Bagger Blog.