A reader asks: I sprained my ankle at work on Friday before the end of the working day. The pain was not too bad and I carried on with work. My foot did not recover over the weekend and on Monday I felt that I could not work with an aching foot, so I went to the doctor. Now my employer is saying they do not believe I injured my foot when working on Friday because I did not go to the doctor until Monday and they do not consider it an occupational accident.
Answered by Rein Reisberg, Work Environment Consultant of the Labour Inspectorate:
When an employer becomes aware of an employee’s injury, which they have allegedly suffered when performing their work duties, they are required to launch an investigation to determine, among other things, whether the accident was causally linked to the employee’s work or the working environment. To that end, they have to take statements from persons who have information on the relevant circumstances of the accident. If the employee informed the employer’s representative immediately after injuring their foot and the representative confirms this in their statement, the employer has a link between the injury suffered while working and the subsequent temporary incapacity for work. If the employee failed to fulfil their obligation to immediately notify the employer or their representative of the accident or the risk of it occurring, the employer has no one to ask for a statement besides the alleged injured party, and so it is difficult for the employee to make sure that the accident occurred on Friday when performing work duties and not on the weekend while doing household chores.
A sprain that does not seem to prevent the employee from continuing their work does not necessarily have to be reported to the head of the company, but to the person who organises the employee’s daily work, such as their foreman, shift manager or supervisor. In most cases, the employer can also get information from the injured employee’s colleague, which verifies their story about spraining their ankle at work. This is the case in situations where the accident did not happen on the company’s premises, but, for example, when two employees have been assigned road maintenance.
Therefore, it is important to report injuries sustained at work immediately, not several days later.
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