Slipped on a Wet Floor in a Shop? Here’s What the Law Says

Slipping on a wet floor in a supermarket or shop is one of the most common public liability accidents in Queensland. Whether it gives rise to a successful compensation claim depends on what the business knew, what precautions they took, and how long the hazard existed before you fell. This article explains the legal framework that applies in wet floor claims, what evidence matters, and how claims are processed.

Negligence Laws Apply to Wet Floor Claims

Essentially, a claim for injury from slipping on a wet floor is a claim for negligence. Businesses that occupy premises are required by the Civil Liability Act 2003 (QLD) to take reasonable care for the safety of people who enter those premises.  That duty requires the business to take reasonable steps to prevent foreseeable harm to visitors, including customers.

The business’s duty of care isn’t unlimited. While businesses should go to reasonable efforts to provide safe premises for visitors, a shop does not owe you a guarantee that you will never suffer an injury while shopping there. The duty only extends to taking reasonable precautions given the business’s knowledge of the potential hazards on their premises.

THE OCCUPIER’S DUTY OF CARE IN QUEENSLAND

Under the Civil Liability Act 2003 (QLD), an occupier of premises owes a duty of care to take reasonable precautions to avoid a foreseeable risk of harm to persons entering the premises. A risk is foreseeable if a person in the occupier’s position knew or ought to have known it existed. The standard is objective: not what this business actually did, but what a reasonable business in the same circumstances would have done.

How a Wet Floor Claim Process Proceeds

In order for a wet floor compensation claim to succeed, a claimant must prove three elements: that there was a duty of care owed to the claimant by the business (the business occupied the premises and the claimant was lawfully on those premises); that the business breached their duty of care by failing to take reasonable precautions against the hazard; and that the business’s breach of their duty caused the claimant’s injury and their resultant losses.

What Makes a Business Liable for a Wet Floor Injury

Not every slip results in a successful claim. The outcome depends heavily on what the business knew about the hazard, how long it had existed, and what steps the business took in response. The following factors consistently affect liability.

MORE LIKELY TO ESTABLISH NEGLIGENCE

• The spill existed for a significant period before the fall and the business had or should have had knowledge of it
• The business had no regular inspection system in place, or the system was not followed
• No wet floor sign was placed near the hazard, or the sign was inadequate for its location
• CCTV footage shows staff walked past the spill without addressing it
• Inspection records show the area had not been checked within a reasonable period before the accident
• The hazard was created by the business itself (e.g. a leaking refrigerator, a mopping operation without adequate signage)
• The surface is known to be slippery when wet and no non-slip measures are in place

LESS STRAIGHTFORWARD

• The spill was very recent and the business had no reasonable opportunity to discover and address it
• A wet floor sign was in place and was clearly visible at the point of the hazard
• The business had a documented regular inspection system and records show it was followed
• The hazard was created by another customer immediately before the fall
• The claimant was not paying reasonable attention to their surroundings in the circumstances
• The risk of harm from the spill was so minor that no reasonable occupier would have taken precautions

THE KEY QUESTION

The central question in almost every wet floor claim is: did the business know about the hazard, or should it have known? A business cannot address a hazard it could not reasonably have discovered. But a business that had no inspection system, or whose staff ignored a visible spill, is in a very different position from one that had a spill cleaned up within minutes of it appearing.

How Long the Spill Had Been There

The duration of the hazard is often the most important factual issue in a wet floor claim. A spill that existed for two minutes gives the business little opportunity to discover and address it. A spill that had been on the floor for 40 minutes, visible to any staff member who walked through that area, is a different matter.

Courts assess the duration question by looking at what evidence is available about when the spill first appeared. This includes CCTV footage, staff witness statements, inspection records, and any evidence of who was in the area before the accident. Not all of this evidence is preserved for long.

CCTV FOOTAGE OVERWRITES QUICKLY

Many businesses only keep CCTV footage for a few days before it overwrites itself.  If you were injured in a shop and believe CCTV may show the duration of the hazard, sending a written preservation request to the business as soon as possible after the accident is important. If footage is overwritten before it can be obtained, that can itself become a relevant issue in the claim.

Warning Signs: What They Mean and What They Do Not

Merely placing a wet floor warning sign does not necessarily mean a business did everything reasonable in the circumstances. Whether a warning sign amounts to a reasonable precaution depends on where it was placed, whether it was visible, and whether it adequately identified the specific hazard.

SIGNS ARE EVIDENCE OF PRECAUTION, NOT IMMUNITY

A business that places a wet floor sign is doing more than a business that does nothing. But a sign alone does not automatically mean the duty of care was discharged. You still have to prove whether a reasonable person would have done more: cleaned up the hazard, cordoned the area, or taken other steps depending on how dangerous the hazard was and how much customer traffic was present.

What to Do Immediately After a Slip

The steps taken in the minutes and days after a slip injury directly affect the evidence available for any future claim. The following actions are worth taking as soon as your physical condition allows.

1. Report the accident to the store manager or duty manager

Report the accident to staff immediately and ask to complete an incident report. Keep a copy of anything you sign or are given. Note the name and position of the staff member you spoke to.

If the store refuses to complete an incident report, note the refusal and the name of the person who refused.

2. Document the hazard and the scene

Take photographs of the wet floor, the area where you fell, any wet floor signs present (or their absence), and any other relevant features of the scene. Take photos before they clean up the spill.

The scene will be cleaned up quickly once you have left. Photos taken at the time are significantly more useful than anything taken later.

3. Obtain witness details

If anyone witnessed the fall or saw the hazard before your fall, ask for their name and contact number. Witnesses are sometimes reluctant to provide details in a retail environment. Ask anyway.

4. Seek medical attention

See your doctor or go to hospital as soon as possible after your accident. Make sure you tell your doctor that you fell in a shop. This ensures your injuries are documented as early as possible and connected to your accident.

Many slip and fall injuries do not present their full severity immediately. Soft tissue injuries, spinal injuries, and psychological effects of a traumatic fall can worsen or clarify over days.

The connection between the accident and your injuries must be documented from as early as possible.

5. Preserve your footwear

Keep the shoes you were wearing on the day. Do not clean them. They can be relevant to questions of contributory negligence about whether your footwear was appropriate for the conditions.

Evidence to Support your Wet Floor Accident Claim

The strength of a wet floor claim depends significantly on the evidence available. The following items are the most useful, and some of them are time-sensitive.

• Photos of the hazard taken as close to the time of the accident as possible, showing the wet floor, its extent, and the location of any warning signs
• CCTV footage from the store showing when the hazard appeared and what staff did (or did not do) in the period before the fall
• The incident report created by the store, which should note the time of the accident, the location, and the circumstances
• Your medical records from the date of injury onwards, documenting the nature of your injuries and their connection to the fall
• Witness statements from anyone who saw the fall or saw the hazard before you fell
• Inspection records from the business, which may be obtained during the claims process and can show whether the area was checked before the accident
• Your footwear from the date of the accident, preserved in its post-accident condition
• Records of lost income if the injury affected your ability to work

Contributory Negligence: If You Were Partly Responsible

Queensland’s Civil Liability Act 2003 (QLD) provides for contributory negligence. If you contributed to your own injury by failing to take reasonable care for your own safety, your compensation is reduced by the proportion of fault attributed to you. Being partly responsible does not prevent a claim, but it does affect the amount recovered.

Common contributory negligence arguments raised in wet floor claims include:

• Wearing shoes with smooth or worn soles that were inappropriate for the conditions
• Looking at a phone or being otherwise distracted at the time of the fall
• Entering an area that was visibly wet or was clearly marked with a warning sign
• Running or moving quickly through an area where caution was clearly warranted
• Claimant was intoxicated at the time of the fall

These arguments are raised regularly but are not always successful. A shopper in a supermarket is entitled to focus on their shopping without constantly scanning the floor for hazards. The business is the occupier. The primary obligation to maintain safe premises rests with them.

FOOTWEAR AND CONTRIBUTORY NEGLIGENCE

Is footwear considered contributory negligence? It depends on the facts. Did the shoes you were wearing when you slipped have anything to do with the fall? Were they reasonable footwear for a shopping environment? High heels at the supermarket is quite different factual scenario to flat shoes on a floor that was wet with cleaning product spills.  Preserve your shoes and let the question be assessed properly rather than assuming footwear somehow invalidates your claim.

The Claims Process Under Queensland Law

Wet floor injury claims in Queensland follow the pre-court procedure set out in the Personal Injuries Proceedings Act 2002 (QLD) (PIPA). This is a mandatory process that must be completed before court proceedings can be commenced.

Step 1: Serve a Notice of Claim
The formal claim begins by serving a Notice of Claim on the business (the respondent). The notice must be given within nine months of the date of injury, or within one month of first consulting a lawyer, whichever is earlier. Otherwise you must provide a reasonably excuse for delay. The notice sets out the circumstances of the accident, the nature of the injuries, and the basis of the claim against the business.

Step 2: Respondent investigates
Once the notice is received, the business or its insurer has one month to acknowledge it and begin investigating. They will gather CCTV (assuming it’s been preserved), take witness statements from staff, investigate the site, and look at any incident reports. Preserving evidence early on helps your claim.

Step 3: Evidence exchange and negotiation
Both parties exchange medical reports, loss evidence, and expert opinions. The claimant provides records of injury, treatment, and economic loss. The respondent provides their investigation findings, any inspection records, and their medical expert opinion if one is obtained.

Step 4: Compulsory conference
Before court proceedings can be commenced, the parties must hold a compulsory conference. This is a structured negotiation between the parties and their legal representatives. Most public liability claims resolve at this stage.

THE NINE-MONTH NOTICE DEADLINE

Nine months can pass quickly, particularly when recovery is the focus and legal steps feel like something to deal with later. The notice period runs from the date of injury, not from when you decide to take action. If you are approaching nine months from the date of an accident in a shop or public place, this deadline should not be let pass without at least getting advice about whether a notice needs to be served.

What You Can Claim 

If a wet floor claim succeeds, compensation covers the losses you have suffered as a result of the injury. In Queensland, the types of damages available in public liability claims are governed by the Civil Liability Act 2003 (QLD).

• Medical and hospital expenses, past and future, including GP, specialist, physiotherapy, psychology, medication, and imaging costs
• Lost income from time unable to work as a result of the injury
• Future loss of earning capacity where the injury has a long-term impact on your ability to work
• Rehabilitation costs, including physiotherapy and occupational therapy
• Care and assistance, both professional care and gratuitous care provided by family members
• Pain and suffering (non-economic loss), subject to regulation under the Civil Liability Act 2003 (QLD)
• Out-of-pocket expenses directly caused by the injury, including travel to appointments and aids or equipment required