Work injuries

Workplace-Accidents

If an employee suffers an injury at work or in connection with work, he is entitled to monetary compensation from the employer for the resulting damage if the following two conditions are met:

1) there must be subjective or objective responsibility of the employer, i

2) the worker must not be careless while working and must not work without the prescribed protective equipment, i.e. must not act contrary to the rules of occupational safety.

How to recover damages from work injuries

Many of you are asking questions like:

What is a work injury?
What are the employer’s obligations if an injury occurs?
What should the employer do to prevent injury?
How to pay for an injury at work?

Who has the right to safety and health at work?

The Occupational Safety and Health Act prescribes the circle of persons entitled to occupational safety and health. Therefore, in relation to them, the employer is obliged to take appropriate measures, all so that these persons are safe and protected at work. This circle includes:

pupils and students on compulsory production work, professional practice or practical teaching
employees
persons undergoing professional training, retraining or retraining
persons undergoing professional rehabilitation
persons who are serving a prison sentence while working in the economic unit of the prison sentence execution institute (workshops, construction sites, etc.) and at another place of work
persons on voluntary and public works organized in the general interest, work actions and competitions related to work
persons who happen to be in the work environment for the purpose of performing certain tasks, if the employer is aware of their presence

The Law on Health Insurance (ZZO) stipulates that compulsory health insurance includes insurance for illness and injury outside of work, as well as insurance for injury at work and occupational disease. The occupational injury of the ZZO means the following:

an injury to the insured that occurs in a spatial, temporal and causal connection with the performance of the work on the basis of which it is insured, caused by immediate and short-term mechanical, physical or chemical effects, sudden changes in the position of the body, sudden loading of the body or other changes in the physiological state of the organism (even when the employee suffered the specified injury in the work to which he was not assigned, but which he performs in the interest of the employer)
injury sustained by the insured upon arrival, i.e. returning from work
an illness of the insured that occurred directly or as an exclusive consequence of an accident or force majeure during the performance of the insured’s work or in connection with it

In addition to health insurance, there are also pension and disability insurance, as mandatory insurance that provides rights in case of old age, disability, death and physical damage.

Report of injury at work and preparation of report

The employer is obliged to report this fact to the competent labor inspection and the competent authority for internal affairs immediately, and no later than 24 hours after the occurrence of the injury.

The doctor who examined the employee enters the necessary data in the report and submits it to the employer so that the employer can submit the report to the Republic Health Insurance Fund, and to the branch where the employee exercises his rights based on health insurance.

The employer is obliged, in accordance with the general act, to pay compensation to the employee due to an injury at work. The obligation to compensate for damage is prescribed by the Law on Obligations, which stipulates that the stated obligation is considered due from the moment the damage occurs.

When does the employer respond objectively?

The employer is responsible objectively, that is, even if he is not at fault, if the damage occurred in connection with a dangerous thing, that is, a dangerous activity, because then it is considered that the damage originates from that thing, that is, that activity, unless it is proven that they were not the cause of the damage.

Therefore, if the employer performs a dangerous activity or if during work the employees work with machines and devices that can be considered dangerous, the employer will not be liable only if he proves that the injury occurred as a result of some other cause or if he proves that the damage was caused by the sole action of the employee or of a third party, which the employer could not foresee or remove.

What are the obligations of the employee in case of work injuries

It is undeniable that an employee has the right to safety and protection of life and health at work. This employee’s right is accompanied by the employer’s obligation to provide him with conditions for safe work. However, the employer must also be protected against the negligent and irresponsible behavior of the employee, because it is easy to imagine a situation where the employee sustains an injury at work and claims compensation on that basis, without having followed the prescribed protective measures.

Because of the above, ZOR prescribes that the employee is obliged to:

complies with regulations on safety and protection of life and health at work in order not to endanger his own safety and health, as well as the safety and health of employees and other persons
notify the employer of any type of potential hazard that could affect safety and health at work

Therefore, the responsible and reasonable behavior of the employee is a prerequisite for exercising the right to compensation for damages suffered as a result of an injury at work.

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