Ask the Expert
In each publication of Risk Review, an outside guest or a member of our team of expert risk management and loss prevention consultants will answer a question from a reader. If you are concerned about a risk management or safety issue at your practice or facility, let us know and we may answer it in a future issue.
Expert: Fran Roth (pictured), Princeton Insurance Manager, Healthcare Risk Services
Question: I’ve noticed that the sidewalk up to my office has shifted over the winter and, as a Princeton insured, I want to know what my obligations are to fix this walkway.
By recognizing this hazard, you have taken the first step in minimizing the risk of this type of claim being filed against you.
Walkways tend to shift when the seasons change because of the ground contracting when it freezes in the fall/winter and expanding when the weather warms up in the spring/summer. In order to greatly reduce the risk of someone falling on your property, any uneven walkway needs to be fixed so that all walking paths are maintained continuous and level throughout their entirety. However, what exactly is meant by maintaining the walking surface “continuous and level”?
Princeton Insurance recommends following nationally recognized standards and practices, since these documents provide the criteria used in litigation. In fact, when a risk service consultant visits your property, they will apply the practices outlined in the “Standard Practice for Safe Walking Surfaces” (ASTM F 1637-95) published by the American Society for Testing and Materials to the conditions observed at your location.
This standard defines a “change in level” to exist when any adjoining walking surfaces have a variation in level of ¼ inch or more. If a variation exists, you always have the option of replacing the entire walking surface to make it “stable, planar, flush, and even.” However, this is not always the most cost effective approach. Therefore, the standard identifies repair guidelines allowing you to fix the specific location of the uneven surface.
The standard states that if the variation is between ¼ inch and ½ inch, then the surfaces are to be beveled (ground down) to create a smooth transition having a slope no greater than 1:2 (rise:run). If the variation is greater than ½ inch, the standard indicates the transition is to be made “by means of a ramp or stairs that complies with applicable building codes, regulations, standards, or ordinances, or all of these.”