Tanning Bed Defect

I’m Katelyn Holub, an attorney focusing on personal injury law in northwest Indiana.

Welcome to Personal Injury Primer, where we break down the law into simple terms, provide legal tips, and discuss personal injury law topics.

Today’s question comes from a caller injured while using a tanning booth when her finger and hand got caught in an exhaust fan at the top of the booth. The large metal blade fan was isolated from the patron by only a metal grid of circular bars with wide gaps of 1/2 inch. The gaps permitted fingers to slip into the blades of the exhaust fan. She wanted to know her legal options.

The caller’s situation would involve issues concerning negligent acts and omissions by the business making the tanning booth available for her use on its premises.

As in any premises liability situation, the property holder could be held liable for exposing a patron to a dangerous tanning booth.

In discussing the matter further, it appeared that the tanning booth was a  cobbled-together stand-up tanning booth that the salon owner bought used. It was about 12 years old. The age is important since a manufacturer can only be directly sued in Indiana during the first 10 years after a product is sold.

The caller also said that the booth was a stand-up booth, requiring patrons to lift their hands over their heads to get an even tan. Another wrinkle. The patron had to wear eye protection goggles.

Thus, she had to feel for grab handles near the exhaust fan. The cover around the fan blades failed to isolate the blades from customers’ fingers, having to hold onto the grab handles at the top of the booths.

Photos showed that high-speed fan blades on either side of a grab handle at the top of the booth were poorly shielded, and fingers could reach the blades.

The type of legal issues that such a case presents would include:

– failing to comply with engineering guidelines and standards calling for the hazard to be eliminated or safely guarded against to stop fingers from getting into the fan, and

– failing to warn of dangers associated with equipment supplied to customers to use

In short, yes, legal remedies are available, where a person sustains physical and mental injuries, endures physical and psychological pain and suffering, incurs medical bills, and suffers disfigurement in the type of situation described by the caller.

I hope you found this information helpful. If you are a victim of someone’s carelessness, substandard medical care, a product defect, work injury, or another personal injury, please call (219) 736-9700 with your questions. You can also learn more about us by visiting our website at DavidHolubLaw.com – while there, make sure you request a copy of our book “Fighting for Truth.”