Spring and summer storms can take a toll on your building and property from the outside. Have you taken a look at your property recently?  It’s a good idea to peruse the outside areas of any structure or buildings that your practice owns, rents, or leases on a regular basis. Walking outside during daylight hours is of course ideal, but don’t forget to check the exterior lighting surrounding sidewalks, steps, porches and parking lots at night. Examine the outside of your building from a safety and loss prevention perspective. Start at the top and work your way downward. Are there cracks in, or are any bricks missing from the chimney?  Does the roof have any loose shingles, tar paper, tiles, gutters, or down spouts?  What about clogged drains, unconnected down spouts and gutters pulling away from your building? We (risk consultants at Princeton Insurance who perform building inspections) sometimes see down spouts that have been disconnected from storm run-off drains, which can cause rain to penetrate the ground surrounding the building’s foundation and accumulate in the basement. Ground surrounding the building and landscaping materials, such as mulch or rocks, should be installed or maintained to allow storm run-off to travel away from the building and not to travel back towards the foundation. Are plants growing in your rain gutters, or are leaves still left from last fall that could prevent rain water from draining off of your roof?  Rain water can accumulate in these areas and leak back through the roof, into the ceiling area of your practice.  Dead, overhead tree branches on your property need to be cut off or trimmed so that they can’t be blown down during summer storms onto vehicles, your office, a neighbor’s property or worst yet – people walking underneath. Having an arborist inspect your property every other year is a smart idea. Plants growing in the gutters should be removed as soon as possible. Be sure to regularly remove leaves and other debris from your gutters and roof. Check doors and windows for proper operation – exposure to rain can prevent a door or window from opening and closing.  An elderly or physically challenged patient may be incapable of entering or exiting your office without great effort, which can lead to injury.  Are steps, handrails and ramps in good shape and properly maintained?   Wooden and concrete steps can have cracked and/or broken edges, metal railing supports can rust, and wooden railings can crack and splinter, resulting in potential trip-and-fall hazards.  Also, wooden decking and rails can have the nails backed out by freeze and thaw cycles over winter, causing risk for serious lacerations to occur. Look at your sidewalks and your parking lot. Any changes in elevation along the sidewalk (even slight changes) can lead to a trip-and-fall hazard for patients.  ypical trips and falls occur because the foot has stepped downward when unexpected or stepped higher on one side because of a bump, a crack or a hole in the sidewalk. Changes in elevations greater than half of an inch must be addressed to provide a safe environment for patients, staff and visitors to your office. Remember that the landscaping or lawn along the sidewalk should be level or almost level with sidewalk so that if someone accidentally walks off of the side of the sidewalk, both surfaces will be relatively level and not present an additional trip-and-fall injury source.  Sidewalks and curbs can be damaged in a variety of ways. Cracked, broken or missing sections of sidewalk or curb can pose significant trip-and-fall hazards (see photos bleow). One of the more common problems we find involves sidewalks and tree roots (second photo, below). Tree roots can run underneath your sidewalk near the base of a tree and raise sections of sidewalk. If left uncorrected, the sidewalk will eventually be damaged by expanding tree roots.    Any changes in elevation along sidewalks or raised tree roots can pose a trip-and-fall hazard for patients. The surface of your parking lot is under constant assault due to temperature changes, inclement weather, snow plowing, and vehicle and pedestrian traffic. Vehicles parked in your lot sometimes leak fluids (oil, fuel and windshield fluid) that can further deteriorate the asphalt surface or make the surface slippery for individuals walking across the lot. Metal storm water run-off drains can also pose potential safety concerns because the drain grate can become uneven with the surrounding roadway. The area that provides support for the metal grate can be weakened over time by flowing water and road salt.  Vehicle bumper blocks can also play a part in trip-and-fall injuries if they are not visually identified or are moved out of their space at the front of a vehicle parking space.   Temperature changes, inclement weather and snow plowing can lead to cracks in your parking lot such as these. If you have any questions, please call our Risk Resource Line at 1-866-Rx-4RISK.