Working in the summer season may involve exposure to high temperatures. If you combine this additionally with physical effort carried out in a standing position, you cannot rule out fainting or fainting. Such incidents should never be underestimated by employers. This does not mean, however, that there is a basis for qualifying them as accidents at work.

The work is performed in a variety of working environment conditions. Not in every case it is possible to perform duties in an ergonomic chair in an air-conditioned room. A large part of the work, especially in the area of ​​workstations, is associated with a much higher level of energy expenditure. In addition, a very important factor is the temperature, which is one of the most 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 can affect health and life. A high pace of physical work combined with high temperature can promote dehydration, fainting or even fainting. For the sake of order, it is worth recalling that fainting is a temporary and significant weakness of the body. On the other hand, syncope is a short-term loss of consciousness caused by hypoxia of the brain. In practice, fainting can lead to fainting, but it is not an absolute rule.

Fainting, and in extreme cases fainting, may be reported as an accident with the hope that it will be classified as an occupational accident. If, as a result of fainting or fainting, an employee falls over and suffers an injury due to the loss of control, then the event 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 no talk of an accident, let alone its qualified form, which is an accident at work.

Just fainting or even fainting can lead to an accident, in this case at work, but in itself it is by no means an accident.

Should I initiate proceedings if fainting or fainting is reported as an accident? Theoretically, the absence of an injury at the very beginning could induce the employer to refrain from carrying out the post-accident investigation. On the other hand, what if the injury took place and was demonstrated after some time, for example in the form of visible tissue bruising?

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

In the event of an employee fainting, the recommended procedure is to analyze the organization of work in terms of: pace, breaks, water and preventive drinks, protective measures used.

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

The case of fainting or fainting may be related only to the employee’s individual health predispositions. However, it cannot be ruled out that a doctor providing preventive health care for employees may reflect on the modification of the existing work organization. Of course, it is difficult to influence high temperature, especially when we are talking about work in the open, but there is a lot of room for maneuver in terms of mitigating the nuisance associated with work in exposure to heat.

Source:https://www.portalbhp.pl/blog/zaslabniecie-omdlenie-czy-to-wypad-przy-pracy-10509.html#

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