Premises liability holds workplaces responsible for keeping their employees, customers, and visitors safe. Should an injury or illness occur, the victim has the right to file a claim against the organization.

This legal theory covers everything from twisted ankles to homicide. That is why it's essential to take preventive measures. Increasing safety while decreasing your risk for hefty fines and a ruined reputation is a win-win.

Case management software helps business owners track incidents and spot risks, making it easier to implement effective preventive measures. Find out how case management software reduces your risk for premises liability and why that matters to your organization.

What is Premises Liability?

Premises liability is a legal concept that requires organizations to take measures to prevent workplace crime, injury, illness, and any other forms of harm. This applies to everyone in the workplace including employees, customers, visitors, vendors and solicitors. Maintaining safety and well-being are part of an employer's duty.

A wide variety of incidents fall under the scope of premises liability. For example:

• An employee's visiting spouse breathing in a harmful substance
• A customer slipping on a wet floor and breaking their arm
• A client punching an employee
• An employee cutting themself on a jagged piece of metal
• An employee falling off a ladder
• Hazardous chemicals entering the water supply

According to OSHA, the United States' Occupational Health and Safety Administration, "the right to a safe workplace is a basic human right."

However, keeping people safe is not the only reason to reduce your premises liability. Should your workplace not comply with OSHA's regulations or otherwise prove to be unsafe, you may face large fines. What's more, even if your insurance company covers the fees, your organization's reputation will suffer.

Calculate your workplace's premises liability risk with our free risk assessment template.

Real-Life Examples of Premises Liability Cases

Premises liability is no joke. Whether the victim is an employee or a visitor, an injury can cost your organization thousands or even millions of dollars. Here are some examples of real-life premises liability cases that hit companies hard, both financially and in their reputation:

• A grain bin in Illinois exploded, causing a man to suffer severe burns. He was awarded $67,000,000.
• A woman fell down stairs that were not designed or built properly. She was awarded $12,000,000.
• A woman was injured by a falling display of paper plates in a discount store. She was awarded $1,500,000.
• An ironworker slipped on ice while welding, causing him to suffer low back injuries. He was awarded $1,050,000.
• A pedestrian fell six feet down a hole on a construction site because it was not fenced off. They were awarded $240,000.

How Can Case Management Software Reduce Premises Liability?

Keeping track of incidents, both potential and real, can be a lot of work. Case management software helps you keep track of these incidents and monitor your data to improve safety.

Health and Safety Investigations

Case management software makes it easy to manage health and safety investigations. Rather than cutting and pasting information into long reports and searching through filing cabinets to find documents you need, automating your investigation reports saves time, money and stress.

A comprehensive case management solution such as i-Sight (now Case IQ) incorporates OSHA form templates, ensuring you record all the necessary information for a health and safety investigation. There's no more guesswork when it comes to logging evidence.

A mobile-friendly solution allows you to update cases in the office, in the warehouse or even at remote work sites. This way, you don't have to worry about remembering details or taking notes when investigating an incident.

Preventing Workplace and School Violence

A strong prevention program can reduce liability. Case management software can actually help you prevent workplace and school violence by tracking complaints against employees, changes in behavior (like days missed from work or lateness) and previous incidents of violence.

Storing all of your cases in one place and logging data on user-friendly, pre-formatted templates makes it easy to see where your risks for workplace violence lie. You can also attach evidence files and notes to cases, streamlining the investigation process and providing the information you need to prevent further instances of violence.

Using case management software to track, analyze and prevent workplace violence not only reduces your risks but may also save lives.

Take a look at this webinar to learn more about preventing workplace violence.

Spotting Trends with Reporting

Case management software makes record-keeping fast and intuitive for incident investigations but it also lets you analyze the data in those records.

If you want to reduce your premises liability risk, the key is to stop problems before they start. Case IQ's reporting tool lets you generate customizable data summaries to spot trends.

The drag-and-drop design allows you to create graphs and charts based on your choice of criteria. Sort and compare cases by type, location, and more. Combine maps with your reports to get insight into geographic trouble spots.

Is there a type of incident happening a lot? Is there one location, branch or office with multiple incidents? Is one employee involved in a lot of incidents?

Once you recognize incident trends, you can implement preventive measures to make your workplace safer. This can be anything from repairing a broken step to installing security cameras or performing more frequent safety inspections.

RELATED: Control Person Liability: Are You Properly Supervising Your Staff?

Case Management Software: A Premises Liability Solution

A workplace can't be too safe. Protecting the health and safety of employees and visitors not only builds trust but also reduces your premises liability risk.

Use case management software to easily record data, create cases, and analyze incidents. You'll protect your reputation and the well-being of everyone who interacts with your business.