Personal Injury Prevention: The Leaves are Falling and So Could You

Everyone loves this time of the year, but many are not thinking about personal injury prevention. The leaves are changing color, they’re falling on the ground, and soon there will be snow! This time of year brings cozy sweaters, fuzzy socks, and hot chocolate to keep us warm, but not always safe. The leaves are falling and so could you this fall/winter! It is important that you take steps toward personal injury prevention, regardless of your age.
Person Injury Prevention to Keeps you Safe:
1) Proper Footwear
A common failure of personal injury prevention and reason for falling while being out and about is not wearing the right shoes! If your shoes are too big, you can trip. If your shoes do not have good traction, you could slip! And if your shoes are not warm enough you could lose the tip of your toe! While this is sounding very Dr. Sues right now, these are all true! The proper footwear is the key to personal injury prevention and can protect you from tripping, falling, and slipping through fall/winter.
2) Be Aware of Your Surrounding
When you’re walking it is important to be aware of what is in front of you as well as what is beneath your feet. The fall and winter months bring added debris on the ground that causes more trips and falls than in the summertime. A great step toward personal injury prevention is to check your steps before you take them.
3) Clear Pathways
While it may be tempting to walk the earthy path just to hear the crunch leaves and snow beneath your feet, do not do it! Taking steps toward personal injury prevention means staying on cleared paths that are free of debris to keep you safe. Nothing is worse than taking a shortcut just to slip on ice and break something.
4) Slow Down
A common cause of injury during this time of year is people rushing to get places. This is true for those driving, walking, running, or anyone going anywhere! An important personal injury prevention step is to slow down, take your time, and lessen your chances of slipping on ice or tripping on branches and leaves.
5) Bring a Flashlight
Fall and winter bring longer nights, and with that comes night blindness and black ice! While most people have flashlights on their phones in 2019, many fail to take personal injury prevention steps and actually use them! By using your flashlights at night time, you can identify black ice and prevent many falls.
If you find yourself having fallen this fall, use the form on the right to tell us about it and we'll let you know how we can help!