Working in the summer season may involve exposure to high temperatures. If this is combined with physical exercise performed in a standing position, fainting or fainting cannot be ruled out. Such incidents cannot under any circumstances be downplayed by employers. This does not mean, however, that there is a basis for qualifying them as accidents at work.

The work is performed in various working environment conditions. It is not always possible to perform duties in an ergonomic chair in an air-conditioned room. Much of the work, especially in workers’ positions, involves a much higher level of energy expenditure. In addition, temperature is a very important factor as it is one of the very important conditions of the working environment. It affects not only the effects of work, the quality and quantity of work performed, but also the safety of its performance.

It is assumed that the temperature in the workplace may affect health and life. High pace of physical work combined with high temperature may cause dehydration, fainting or even fainting. For the sake of order, it is worth recalling that fainting is a temporary and significant weakening of the body. Syncope is a short-term loss of consciousness caused by cerebral hypoxia. In practice, fainting may lead to fainting, but this is not an absolute rule.

Fainting, or in extreme cases fainting, may be reported as an accident with the hope that it will be classified as an accident at work. If an employee falls as a result of fainting or fainting and suffers an injury due to loss of control, then the incident may be considered by the post-accident team as an accident at work. However, if the event is not accompanied by an injury, then there will be neither an accident nor its qualified form, which is an accident at work.

Fainting or even fainting may lead to an accident, in this case at work, but it is not an accident in itself.

Regardless of the lack of grounds for classifying fainting or fainting as an accident at work, the employer cannot ignore such a situation.

In the event of an employee fainting, the recommended course of action is to analyze work organization in terms of:

• pace,
• breaks used,
• providing water and preventive drinks,
• protective measures used.

Moreover, regardless of whether an employee has suffered an injury or not, he or she should be sent for an early preventive medical examination, in particular when performing particularly dangerous work, where fainting or fainting may lead to an accident with serious or even fatal consequences.

A case of fainting or fainting may only be related to the employee’s individual health predispositions. However, it cannot be ruled out that the doctor providing preventive health care for employees may reflect on the modification of the current work organization. Of course, it is difficult to influence high temperatures, especially when working outdoors, but there is a lot of room for maneuver in terms of alleviating the nuisance associated with working exposed to heat.

Source:https://www.portalbhp.pl/blog-o-tematyce-bhp/zaslabniecie-omdlenie-czy-to-wypadek-przy-pracy-10509.html

Supported by Norway through Norway Grants 2014-2021, in the frame of the Programme “Social Dialogue – Decent Work”.