Pursuant to Article 67 31 § 9 of the Labour Code, in the event of an accident at remote work, the employer is obliged to apply the provisions on how to proceed in the event of an accident at work. Pursuant to Article 237 § 1 points 1 and 2 of the Labour Code, in the event of an accident, the employer should:

• take action to eliminate or reduce the threat,
• provide first aid to the injured,
• determine the circumstances and causes of the accident,
• apply solutions to prevent similar accidents in the future,
• in the event of a fatal, serious or collective accident, immediately notify the relevant District Labour Inspector and the Public Prosecutor about the incident,
• keep a register of accidents at work,
• keep records of the accident for a period of 10 years,
• cover the costs associated with the post-accident proceedings.

In the case of remote work, the above obligations arise when the employer becomes aware of the accident, i.e. only after the accident is reported by the employee or a member of their family.

While the obligations related to post-accident proceedings or documentation issues do not raise any major doubts, the obligation to provide first aid to the injured person in an accident while working remotely does. In order to be effective, first aid should be provided immediately, but how to do it when the employee is in a place indicated by him/her, often at a considerable distance from the employer’s headquarters.

As a result, employers are not in a position to provide it in a timely and effective manner. Fortunately, the legislator also noticed this problem and in Article 67 31 § 1 of the Labour Code released the employer from the obligations arising from Article 209 1 of the Labour Code.

The above exemption applies to obligations related to:

• providing first aid in an emergency, providing the necessary means and appointing persons authorised to provide it,
• activities related to the evacuation of employees, fighting fires and providing the necessary fire protection equipment/equipment.

Pre-medical first aid is an extremely important element of protecting the health and life of employees, which is why every employee should have knowledge of basic medical procedures related to first aid. A remote worker should also be thoroughly instructed on how to ensure their safety and help in the event of an accident.

Source: https://www.i-bhp.com/post/udzielanie-pierwszej-pomocy-przy-pracy-zdalnej

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