Legal Definitions - accidental harm

Accidental harm refers to any injury, loss, or damage that occurs without deliberate intent or malicious purpose. It is typically the result of an unforeseen event, a mistake, or negligence that falls short of gross misconduct. The defining characteristic is the absence of a conscious decision to cause the specific harm that resulted.

Here are some examples illustrating accidental harm:

• Example 1: A shopper in a grocery store slips on a wet floor near the produce section, which was recently mopped but not clearly marked with a "wet floor" sign. The shopper falls and breaks their wrist.

  Explanation: The store management did not intend for the shopper to fall or be injured. The broken wrist is an accidental harm because it was an unintended consequence of an unforeseen event (slipping) that occurred due to a lack of proper warning, rather than a deliberate act to cause injury.

• Example 2: While playing catch in their backyard, a child accidentally throws a baseball too hard, and it flies over the fence, shattering a decorative garden gnome in the neighbor's yard.

  Explanation: The child did not intend to damage the neighbor's property; the broken gnome was an unintended outcome of a recreational activity. This constitutes accidental harm because the damage was not caused by a deliberate act of vandalism but by an unforeseen trajectory of the ball.

• Example 3: A construction worker operating a crane accidentally bumps a support beam, causing a stack of drywall sheets to topple over and be damaged beyond repair.

  Explanation: The crane operator did not intend to destroy the drywall. The damage to the drywall sheets is an accidental harm because it resulted from an unintended maneuver or misjudgment during a work task, rather than a deliberate act of destruction.