Across the country, school’s out for the summer. People are heading off on vacations and enjoying time outside. They’re making the most of summer concerts, movies in the park, and other outdoor events. The last thing anyone wants is to be injured in the warmer, sunnier months, but personal injuries are always a possibility.

According to the National Safety Council, preventable deaths from extreme heat reach the highest point in July. October and April have the least incidents. Drowning deaths are also highest in July. The other area where personal injuries increase is car crashes. Starting in July, the rates increase until October and then slow back down.

That’s just deaths considered in the National Safety Council’s statistics. There are also minor and major injuries that can result from summer travel, activities, and gatherings. Here are some of the biggest causes of personal injuries in the summer months.

Food Poisoning

A good rule of thumb for any outdoor gathering is to keep anything with meat, eggs, and dairy on ice. Put it in a cooler and only take it out long enough to serve it. If you’re grilling meats, they need to be cooked properly to avoid food poisoning.

• Beef/Veal/Pork/Lamb/Seafood – 145ºF, unless ground, and then it’s 160ºF
• Bratwurst and similar – 160ºF
• Hot Dogs – 155ºF
• Poultry – 165ºF

Once proteins are cooked, serve them ASAP. Move things that haven’t been eaten to a refrigerator or put them on ice as quickly as possible, but definitely within two hours. Cover everything to keep flies away.

Those are steps you can take to protect yourself, but what if you learn after the fact that something you ate wasn’t prepared properly? Food recalls happen all of the time. If you became ill from one of them and had to take unpaid time off work or pay expensive medical bills, the company responsible for your food poisoning should be held liable.

For example, spinach containing E. coli made dozens of people sick back in 2007. A few elderly people died from the infection. They had no way of knowing the raw spinach they ate was going to make them so sick. Investigators believe wild pigs got into a nearby field. That’s one area where food poisoning is the fault of another party. 

Heat-Related Injuries

One of the leading causes of personal injuries is related to heat. When it’s hot, restrict your activities to the cooler morning or evening hours. If you have to work outside, stay hydrated, use a damp T-shirt to keep your core body temperature lower, and seek shade as much as you can.

California’s Heat Illness Prevention Standard requires employers to provide free clean and cool drinking water and shade when the temperature is 80ºF or higher. This includes workers in agriculture, construction, delivery of heavy materials, oil and gas extraction, and landscaping. When a worker feels the need to cool down, the employer must allow that break in a shady area and be monitored for heat-related illnesses.

Know the signs of heat exhaustion and heat stroke. Heat exhaustion’s symptoms include:

• Cool, clammy, pale skin
• Dizziness
• Fast, weak pulse
• Headache
• Muscle cramps
• Nausea
• Weakness

With heat exhaustion, cool down by hydrating, sitting in front of a fan or AC, and cool, damp washcloths against the skin. As heat exhaustion progresses to heat stroke emergency care is essential, as the symptoms shift to:

• Body temperature exceeding 103ºF
• Confusion
• Fast, strong pulse
• Loss of consciousness
• Hot, red, dry skin
• Pounding headache

Call 9-1-1 and move to AC while waiting.

Product Liability Injuries

Food poisoning claims like the one above are a product liability case, but there are others. Many people spend the summer tending to their flower beds, vegetable gardens, and fruit trees. There are also patios and driveways to keep clean and weed-free. There’s a very popular weed killer that people used for years without realizing it was carcinogenic and no warning alerted them to the cancer risk.

If you’re injured by a product that didn’t warn you of the risks, you could have a valid personal injury case. An electric lawn mower where the battery packs have a weak spot and create fires is a good example. A bicycle where the brakes are known to fail is another.

Slip, Fall, and Trip Accidents

Wet grass from dew or rain is one way slip and falls increase in the summer. Most of those are unavoidable and no one’s fault. But, there are slip, fall, and trip accidents that are avoidable.

You’re walking in the mall and end up slipping on a freshly mopped floor. The worker never put up a sign alerting the public to wet floors. Your injuries could have been avoided. 

Another common summer trip, slip, and fall occurs when a sidewalk isn’t properly marked as being uneven. A crack formed during the winter leaving a slightly raised lip that you catch your toe on. The city hasn’t gotten around to fixing it or putting up a warning sign. That’s a problem, which led to an injury that could have been avoided.

Traffic Accidents

Car crashes are another common summer injury.  You might be a driver or passenger or a pedestrian or cyclist on the edge of the road or in a crossing. If you’re hit by another driver who wasn’t paying attention, is impaired, or intentionally hit you due to aggression, you shouldn’t be the one paying for your medical bills and lost wages.

Were you in an Uber when there was an accident? That’s another summer injury that should lead to the company covering your lost wages and medical bills.

Water-Related Injuries

What kind of water-related injuries are the fault of others? You’re on the beach and someone on a jet ski loses control and hits you. You might be on a boat that has defects you’re unaware of and it starts to sink, leading to the Coast Guard having to rescue everyone on board. You could be in a public pool where proper maintenance was ignored and everyone in the water ended up with Legionella.

You shouldn’t have to avoid being in a public pool or beach in order to stay safe from harm caused by others. You have the right to these public areas and expect others to put safety first.

Have You Been Injured?

While some of the personal injuries you experience this summer may be the result of your own actions, not every injury will be. You might not notice the sidewalk is uneven and fall and break your wrist. You’re walking out of a store when a car backs up into you without looking. It’s not your fault, and you shouldn’t be responsible for the bills to follow.

If you’re injured this summer and someone else caused your injury, reach out to Shegerian Conniff. You shouldn’t have to pay for time off work, medical expenses, and the emotional and psychological damage that follows a traumatic event. We’re here to help you get fully compensated for personal injuries resulting from medication or medical errors, Uber accidents, car accidents, hit and accidents, and slips, trips, or falls.