Study Finds Americans Reluctant to Dine at Restaurants Where a Slip-and-Fall Accident Occurred

To help restaurant operators better understand the implications of a slip-and-fall accident, Cintas Corporation (NASDAQ: CTAS) commissioned Harris Interactive to conduct a telephone survey among more than 1,000 U.S. adults ages 18 and older to identify how they would react to a slip-and-fall accident. The survey found that nearly one in three adults – or 60 million Americans – would be unlikely to dine out at a restaurant at which they knew someone had recently experienced a slip-and-fall accident.

“We’ve always known that slip-and-fall accidents result in increased costs due to litigation or injury, but this research shows that the cost of an accident might be even greater than initially thought,” said David Collette, Director of Marketing and Strategy, Cintas Foodservice. “Implementing a safe floor program not only mitigates hard costs and gives restaurant operators peace of mind, it can also offset potential long-term costs associated with lost business down the road.”

The survey surprisingly showed very little difference between gender or age, but interestingly, it showed adults residing in the Northeast are significantly more likely than those who live in the Midwest or South to say they would be very unlikely to dine out at a restaurant with a recent slip-and-fall accident (23 percent in the Northeast vs. 13 percent in the Midwest and 11 percent in the South).

Each year, more than 3 million food service employees and over 1 million guests are injured as a result of restaurant slips and falls, according to the National Floor Safety Institute (NFSI). A recent NSFI study indicates that the industry spends over $2 billion on such injuries each year and that these injuries are increasing at a rate of about 10 percent annually. A safe floor program helps reduce the opportunity for these accidents by providing restaurants with a program to protect, maintain and deep clean floor surfaces.

“As the economy begins to recover and restaurants compete for business, this research shows that a slip and fall accident can derail these efforts and send customers out the door,” added Collette. “A safe floor program not only protects employees and guests, but also a restaurant’s bottom line.”

Cintas offers a wide range of solutions that enable restaurants to build their image, stay safe, increase profitability and improve productivity. Whether you need restroom supplies, floor mat protection, chemicals, cleaning tools or regular deep cleaning, Cintas can customize a safe floor program to meet your needs.

This survey was conducted by phone within the United States by Harris Interactive on behalf of Cintas Corporation from February 23-26, 2012, among 1,015 adults ages 18 and older. Results were weighted to reflect the U.S. adult population. For complete survey methodology, including weighting variables and subgroup sample sizes, please contact Andi Vance at avance@mulberrymc.com.

Cintas is a member of the National Floor Safety Institute (NFSI). For more information on Cintas safe floor solutions for foodservice, please visit www.cintas.com/foodservice.

About Cintas Corporation:

Headquartered in Cincinnati, Cintas Corporation provides highly specialized services to businesses of all types primarily throughout North America. Cintas designs, manufactures and implements corporate identity uniform programs, and provides entrance mats, restroom supplies, promotional products, first aid, safety, fire protection products and services and document management services for approximately 900,000 businesses. Cintas is a publicly held company traded over the Nasdaq Global Select Market under the symbol CTAS, and is a component of the Standard & Poor’s 500 Index.

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