What is an occupational accident?

What is an occupational accident?

Occupational accident is an injury or death of a worker which has occurred:

• during the performance of a task assigned by the employer or other work performed with their permission;
• during a break included in the working time;
• at any other time while performing activities in the interests of the employer.

An accident at work does not include damage to health or death that occurred in the listed cases, but which is not causally related to the employee's work or working environment.

The main feature of an accident at work is that the damage to health occurs during work. The expression ‘during work’ means that the accident is work-related, wherever it occurs, or the range of working hours during which work is performed. Accidents at work also include traffic accidents, attacks on public order workers and other similar situations which have occurred during work.

However, accidents at work do not include accidents on the way to and from work, and injuries related only to the victim's condition if there is no causal link with their work. When classifying an accident as an accident at work, it is irrelevant whether it was the fault of the employer, an unauthorised person or the victim themselves.

An accident at work is classified according to the severity of the resulting injury: minor, serious or fatal. Serious injuries include open fractures, extensive wounds, and amputation of limbs, fingers, toes. Minor injuries are those that are not considered serious or cause death.

Every 3.5 minutes, people in the European Union die as a result of an accident at work or an occupational disease, and nearly seven million people are injured as a result of accidents at work each year. Every year, at least 450 million working days are lost due to accidents at work. All of this will cost the European Union's economy at least 490 billion euros per year.

According to the Occupational Health and Safety Act, an accident at work is an injury to the employee's health or death that occurred while performing a job assigned by the employer or at other work performed with their permission, during a break included in working hours or during other activities in the employer's interests. An accident at work does not include damage to health or death that occurred in the listed cases, but which is not causally related to the employee's work or working environment.

The main feature of an accident at work is that it occurs during work and causes physical or mental harm. The expression ‘during work’ means that the accident is work-related, wherever it occurs, or the range of working hours during which work is performed. Accidents at work include, for example, acute poisonings received during work. However, accidents at work do not include intentional self-injuries, accidents on the way to and from work, and injuries related only to the victim's condition if there is no causal link with their work. When classifying an accident as an accident at work, it is irrelevant whether it was the fault of the employer, an unauthorised person or the victim themselves.

The employer must immediately notify the Labour Inspectorate of an occupational accident resulting in a life-threatening condition. In the case of a fatal occupational accident, the employer must notify both the Labour Inspectorate and the police. The doctor is required to immediately notify the Labour Inspectorate in writing or in a format which can be reproduced in writing of a fatal occupational accident, as well as of the imposition of temporary incapacity for work as a result of an occupational accident by submitting a notice in accordance with the form. The Labour Inspectorate must immediately forward the doctor’s notice to the employer via the working environment database or in a format reproducible in writing.

A government regulation has established a specific procedure for investigating and registering accidents at work. The employer must investigate all accidents at work and find out their circumstances and causes. At the end of the investigation, it must determine the measures to be taken to prevent a recurrence of a similar case. The working environment representative or, in their absence, the employees' representative also participates in the investigation. The employer must carry out an investigation into the accident at work within ten working days as of its occurrence.

If an occupational accident results in temporary incapacity for work or death, the investigation into the accident at work ends with a formal report. The employer must prepare the report on the accident at work in the working environment database or submit it to the Labour Inspectorate via the working environment database or in writing within three working days of the completion of the investigation. The employer is required to submit the report to the victim or the representative of their interests within three working days of the completion of the investigation.

There are cases where the employee does not notify the employer of an accident at work. It is difficult for an employer to investigate an accident at work once the employee consults a doctor at a later time. Therefore, the employee should be encouraged to report an accident at work to the employer or their representative and the working environment representative as soon as possible. In the event of illness or injury resulting from an accident at work, the sickness benefit is paid by the Health Insurance Fund at a rate of 100% from the second day of leave.