"I fell at work."

Falls, slips and trips accounted for 22% of California's nonfatal workplace injuries in 2024 and 26% of the fatal ones.

Photograph it now

The condition that caused it, before anyone fixes it. Wet floor, missing mat, broken step, unmarked change in level, poor lighting, missing guardrail, ice, spilled product, cord across a walkway.

The absence of a warning sign is itself evidence — photograph what is not there.

And write down who saw it and who cleaned it up.

Who else may be responsible

If you fell on premises your employer does not own or control, there may be a premises liability claim against the property owner, the building manager, or a maintenance contractor.

If you fell from height on a construction site, the general contractor or property owner may be reachable — subject to the Privette doctrine and its retained-control and concealed-hazard exceptions. How that analysis works.

If equipment failed — a ladder, a scaffold, a lift, a fall-arrest harness — there is a products case against the manufacturer, unaffected by any of the above.

How third-party claims and liens work.

And check where the line is

The going-and-coming rule generally ends at the premises line. A fall in the employer's parking lot, on its walkway, or in its stairwell is frequently a compensable injury, and people assume otherwise constantly. More.

What to watch medically

Head injuries after a fall are under-reported. If you struck your head, lost consciousness even briefly, or have had headaches, memory problems, or difficulty concentrating since — say so, and say it early. How brain injury is rated.

And a fall caused by a prior work injury giving way — a knee, an ankle, a leg — is a compensable consequence of that injury, not a separate misfortune. More.