Safety is Priority

Over the past few weeks, news has broken about multiple appraisers being injured on the job. The appraiser starts his or her day like any other and arrives at the home or building they are scheduled to examine but never expects the danger they can encounter.

Toni Anne Berdych of Michigan was accompanying her supervisor when the home they were inspecting exploded after opening the front door. The vacant home was located in Harper Woods and appeared “normal” upon arrival. According to the information provided by her family on Toni Anne’s gofundme page, Toni opened the screen door to retrieve the key and proceeded to unlock the front door. She struggled to push it open and at that point, her colleague stepped in front of her to push the door open. Immediately, the house exploded.

Both were thrown as a result of the explosion. Toni landed between both of their vehicles and her supervisor was thrown into the street landing face down. Both victims were critically injured but are now on their way to recovery.

This incident is a reminder for appraisers to have their own safety protocols and policies in place to minimize risk. By no fault of their own, these appraisers were injured due to unknown external influences. This begs the question, what can appraisers do on a daily basis to assure their health and safety? When developing these policies, appraisers should consider all of the external forces one encounters during the course of a business day including accident, property condition, weather, human or animal intervention. Be safe out there!

Our thoughts are with the families and appraisers involved in these tragic incidents. 

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