How To Reduce Your Parking Lot Injury Risks

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If you own a small business, then you likely do everything in your power to make your customers happy. Happy customers can make your business successful. Keeping yourself safe from lawsuits can also lead to a profitable store or shop. You may not be able to prevent every legal hassle from coming your way, but you can do your best to prevent injuries on your property that may result in a lawsuit. One of the easiest ways to keep injuries from occurring is by keeping your parking lot safe.

Light Up the Area

If you have a parking lot located just outside of your business that your patrons use, then you need to make sure that the area is safe. Patrons will likely come and go in both the daylight and evening hours and this means that visibility may be reduced once the sunshine no longer shines on the blacktop. This can lead to falls if the parking lot is uneven or if a curb lines the space.  

Install Flood Lights

You can easily avoid parking lot accidents by installing lights on the outside of your business. Flood lights are the best option if your parking lot is wide or long, because these lights produce a wide arc of light that is not blinding as long as the bulbs are installed at a 20 or 22 degree angle. The lights also should be installed about nine feet high on the side of your building for the best illumination. The height will also keep patrons from hitting the lights if they get too close to them.

Find LED Bulbs

When you decide to install flood lights, make sure you purchase LED bulbs for the fixtures. LED lights can last up to 20 years and they do not use nearly as much energy as incandescent bulbs do to produce light. This means that you will use less electricity and you do not have to worry about a dark parking lot for 20 years after installation.

Keep Snow and Ice Away

Remove Snow Daily

If you live in an area that sees a lot of snow, then your parking lot can turn into a slippery and treacherous area after every snow storm. You can keep this from happening by hiring a snow removal company to plow the parking lot every morning and evening. After the space has been plowed, make sure to use a shovel to get rid of all packed snow that has obscured painted lines that mark your parking spaces.  

Melt Ice

Once you have cleared the snow, look for signs of ice. If the parking lot seems slippery or if you see ice that has accumulated, then spread a salt based product across the parking lot. Products that contain magnesium chloride, calcium chloride, or sodium chloride all good choices.

If you are concerned about the damage that may be caused to the cars that park near your business, then use an ice melting material that will not cause vehicle rust. A biodegradable calcium magnesium acetate product will not corrode metal and it will cause far less damage to the asphalt and greenery on your property than rock salt will. The material also requires fewer applications and it will melt ice just as well as other products.

Schedule an Asphalt Sealing

Once the winter weather subsides in your area, make arrangements to have your asphalt sealed. A proper sealant secured once a year will keep the oil binding agents within the asphalt from degrading. When the binding agents break down, small cracks form and allow water to seep into the openings.  Not only will the water freeze during the winter, but it will expand and force large openings to form in your parking lot.  

In between sealing appointments, make sure to fill in cracks on your own. Clean all debris out of the openings first and then use a rubberized asphalt repair material or a hot tar filler to make the repairs.

If you own a business, then you need to make sure that patrons do not injure themselves on your property. Contact professionals like Kenneth Cristall Accident Lawyer who will give you more ideas. One of the easiest ways to keep accidents to a minimum is to make sure that your outdoor parking lot area is as safe as possible.


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