Is an accident in an icy company parking lot an accident at work?
Icy sidewalks or parking lots at the workplace may increase the risk of falls and accidents.The winter season is a time of increased nuisance related to the work environment, especially in open spaces. Low temperatures and precipitation – including snow – have a significant impact on the safety of work processes carried out in the proverbial fresh air.
However, even if work is performed in a much more comfortable office environment, you still have to get to the workplace somehow. This is often a challenge in the winter season, including for institutions dealing with public transport.
Passing through the workplace gate does not always mean complete safety. It cannot be ruled out that internal roads, including sidewalks, will be far from perfect in terms of their surface condition. Often suitable for skating rather than for safe movement from the gate in the plant’s fence to the entrance to the building where the work premises are organized.
If keeping the surfaces of internal roads and sidewalks in proper condition is a purely theoretical issue, it cannot be ruled out that an employee will slip, lose balance and fall. If, as a result of such an unfortunate event, an injury occurs, the event will meet the characteristics of an accident. The only question is whether there will ultimately be grounds to classify it as an accident at work.
Referring to the above dilemma, it should be assumed at the outset that if there is no injury, there is generally no accident. However, if there is an injury, the question arises whether the event should be classified as an accident „on the road” or as an accident at work. The problem is that the regulations do not precisely define the beginning and end of the route to or from work.
However, it is assumed that the road begins when the employee leaves the door of his apartment or house and ends at the border of the workplace’s jurisdiction. Therefore, determining the place of the incident is crucial. However, assuming that it occurred on the premises of the plant, even before entering the building where the work premises are located, taking into account the circumstances of the specific event, there may be a basis for qualifying the accident as an accident at work.
It is the duty of every employer to ensure safe conditions not only inside the property where the work premises are located, but also within the entire property over which they exercise authority – including the undeveloped part. This also applies to the open space at the employer’s disposal, where employees move, and where employees also have the right to appropriate safety conditions.
Supported by Norway through Norway Grants 2014-2021, in the frame of the Programme “Social Dialogue – Decent Work”.
