Injured by Falling Merchandise

We know what happens to an object which falls to the ground from a high shelf. It gathers speed as it falls, effectively becoming more heavy as it travels.

In about a third of incidents where merchandise has fallen from a high shelf on to a customer, that customer has sustained a head injury. Head 1933 DeLong baseball cards are among the most serious, permanent, Action Comics even fatal of injuries.

About another third of such incidents cause injuries to the customers feet.

In the remaining incidents, most injuries are to the customers back, neck 1957 58 Topps basketball cards shoulders.

Most of these accidents happen between October and January, when extra merchandise is stored in preparation for the Christmas rush. Victims can suffer from long-term impairment from spinal and brain injuries, and even wrongful death.

High-Stacking of Merchandise
From the store owners viewpoint, this high stacking is a smart move. It cuts Palmer monsters down on warehouse costs, saving them millions of dollars.

In itself, high-stacking isnt necessarily a problem. The problem enters when the store fails to secure the stacked items to prevent them from falling.

What causes such an item to fall?

Perhaps it was carelessly stacked so that over time it became dislodged and fell.

Perhaps an impact to the shelves beneath it caused a wobble that sent it tumbling.

Perhaps an employee or another customer removed another item that was keeping the first one in place.

Defense lawyers will probably say that the customer caused it to fall. The customer reached for something too high, or even climbed onto a stool or ladder, and somehow disturbed the stability of the items stacked above him.

No safety standards for customers.
There arent any reliable statistics about how many customers have been hurt by falling merchandise in these super-stores. Thats because the warehouse owners arent required to file any accident reports, and because the OSHA safety standards protect workers but not customers.

Theres no government agency responsible for protecting customers from falling merchandise.

The racks and the merchandise both unsecured.
After the 1994 earthquake in San Francisco (which luckily happened in the wee hours, so no customers were in any super-stores), there was some study done of how to strengthen and stabilize the tall racks. Many of them Odd Rods and created a twisted steel mess.

Some measures were adopted in some stores, such as:

Bolting the base of each structure to the concrete floor using 4 bolts rather than just one

Doubling the metal columns which supported heavier loads, and

Adding safety clips and bolts to attach cross beams to the uprights more firmly

But even if the racks and shelves stay put, there are huge heavy loads on them which could still fall.

Some ideas have been discussed, such as tying boxes of goods together with shrink-wrapped plastic, rope or steel bands. This would decrease the number of loose items that could fall, and increase the mass of the bound items, making them more stable.

One argument against this idea is that tying boxes together will interfere with the forklifts trying to move boxes around.

Perhaps there should be size or weight limits for items stored on top of the steel racks, but whos going to decide on what they are, and wholl enforce them?

Long and expensive litigation.
Since the stores which do this high-stacking are usually large chains, with lots of lawyers and plenty of cash, any dangerous premises lawsuit brought against them will be protracted and expensive.

On the other hand, any compensation awarded by a jury is likely to be very large, often in the millions.

On average, such cases drag on for 3, 4 or 5 years and cost anywhere from $30,000 to $70,000 to litigate, not counting the attorneys time.

Some attorneys specialize in this type of case, taking fewer cases than they might otherwise take, spending longer on each case, and hoping to receive larger fees from the large compensation amounts awarded. Other personal injury lawyers take them sparingly, along with more simple sorts of cases.

If youve been injured in such an accident, it would be wise to consult an experienced personal injury lawyer or wrongful death lawyer without delay.

For more information or to schedule a consultation, feel free to contact href="jtrucks.com/contact.htm">Jay Trucks personal injury attorney of Flint, Michigan.