Is an injury to a hair nail an injury in post-accident proceedings?
The definition of an accident at work refers to the key feature of such an event, which is an injury. Its effect is, of course, deterioration of the health condition of the victim, and in extreme cases, death. On the basis of post-accident regulations, an injury is nothing more than damage to tissues or organs as a result of an external factor.
An accident at work has specific characteristics. The absence of even one of them means that the event cannot be classified as an accident at work. The most tangible feature of any accident is, of course, the injury.
According to the colloquial wording, adopted on the basis of the PWN dictionary of the Polish language, the word „injury” means damage to tissues or organs as a result of the local or general action of some external factor. In addition, trauma is a set of images that occurs in the subconscious of a person for a long time, especially as a result of unpleasant and difficult experiences.
Taking into account the above dictionary definition of the term 'injury’, only the first interpretation remains to some extent consistent with the definition of injury applicable under the post-accident regulations.
Accident regulations define an injury as damage to body tissues or human organs as a result of an external factor. Therefore, the legal definition of an injury in the context of accidents at work does not refer to the scale of an injury in the form of a local or general impact of an external factor.
The problem that obliges the post-accident team to seek a medical opinion is not only the lack of sufficient medical knowledge, but also the failure to define the components of the injury on the basis of the regulations. There is no mention of 'damage’ or ’tissue’ in the definition. It is assumed that a tissue is a set of cells of a specific structure and origin, occupying a given place in the body and performing appropriate functions. Tissues include skin, muscles, and internal organ tissues.
The matter seems to be prosaic, especially for some blue-collar workers who routinely treat nail or hair injuries as something unnoticeable. On the other hand, it is difficult to talk about a prosaic situation when the injury concerns a person for whom the right appearance is necessary to perform their duties.
So if, as a result of an unfortunate coincidence, for example, hair inflammation or nail damage occurs without visible damage to other structures, such as skin, the problem cannot be underestimated. In such a case, reporting the incident by the employee should also oblige the employer to initiate post-accident proceedings.
In no way can you equate regular nail trimming or going to the hairdresser with unintentional accidents. That is, for example, to the aforementioned inflammation of the hair, their capture or cutting, as well as damage to the nails, which is not part of the care treatments.
A medical opinion as to whether an injury has occurred will be crucial in this proceeding. The content of such an opinion should indicate whether hair or nail damage can be classified as tissue damage. This will be the basis for assessing the situation in terms of injury, as a component of the definition of an accident at work.
