An accident at work can happen in any workplace. The reasons for its occurrence may be various. It may be caused by the employee’s inattention, fatigue or other external factors.

An accident at work is a sudden event related to work performed, caused by an external cause, causing injury or death. An event may be considered an accident at work if it occurred during the performance of routine work activities or on the order of a superior, when the employee performed activities for the employer without an order, when the event occurred while the employee was at the employer’s disposal on the way between the employer’s headquarters and the place of work. employee duties and when it took place during the employee’s business trip at the employer’s request.

A fatal accident at work is considered when the employee’s death occurs within 6 months from the date of the accident. A serious accident at work is qualified if, as a result of the accident, the employee suffered a serious injury, e.g. loss of vision or hearing, bodily injury, incurable disease, health disorder, permanent mental illness, permanent or partial incapacity for professional work, permanent deformation or disfigurement of the body. When two or more people suffer an accident at work, the event is called a collective accident.

An employee who suffered an accident and witnesses should immediately inform the employer about the incident. Witnesses to the incident should do so in writing. The employer is obliged to provide the injured person with first aid and secure the place of the accident.

If the accident was fatal, serious or collective, the territorially competent district labor inspector and the prosecutor should be notified. Work should be stopped and the social labor inspectorate will decide about resuming work and restarting machines. After receiving a report of an accident at work, the employer is obliged to create a post-accident team. It should include, among others: A person who has completed occupational health and safety training or an employee entrusted with performing occupational health and safety service tasks and a branch labor inspector may enter. However, depending on the employment status and the system adopted by the employer for implementing occupational health and safety tasks, exceptions to the above rule are also possible.

If the accident was fatal, serious or collective, the district labor inspector and the prosecutor should be notified.

The purpose of the post-accident team is to investigate the circumstances and causes of an accident at work. The site is inspected, appropriate information is collected, sketches and photographs are prepared, and interviews are conducted with the injured party, witnesses and other employees. As a result, members of the post-accident team draw conclusions regarding the occupational risk at the workplace where the accident occurred.

Within 14 days from the date of the accident, a report should be prepared regarding the circumstances and causes of the incident according to the template of the regulation of the Minister of Family, Labor and Social Policy of May 24, 2019 on the template of the report determining the circumstances and causes of an accident at work. The injured party and his or her family have the right to read the content of the report before it is approved by the employer (i.e. within 5 days from the date of its preparation).

Every company should have a register of accidents at work, to which case reports must be submitted. In the event of an accident at work or an occupational disease, you are entitled to benefits such as: sickness allowance, rehabilitation benefits, compensatory allowance, one-off compensation, pension, care allowance, supplement to survivor’s pension (for a complete orphan), coverage of the costs of dental treatment and vaccinations as well as supplies in orthopedic equipment. The injured party is entitled to benefits only if the cause of the accident is not a proven violation of safety regulations as a result of negligence and if the employee was under the influence of drugs. The employer is obliged to take all actions to prevent other accidents in the future.

Source:https://poradnikprzedsiebiorcy.pl/-procedury-zwiazane-z-wypadkiem-przy-pracy

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