Ensuring safety in the workplace is one of the basic duties of an employer. This is achieved, among other things, by mandatory health and safety training (both initial and periodic). Unfortunately, despite all efforts, accidents do occur.

According to the statutory provisions, „an accident at work is considered to be a sudden event caused by an external cause resulting in injury or death, which occurs in connection with work:

• during or in connection with the employee’s performance of ordinary duties or instructions from superiors;
• during or in connection with the performance of an employee’s activities for the employer, even without instruction;
• while the employee is at the employer’s disposal on the way between the employer’s registered office and the place where the obligation arising from the employment relationship is performed.”

An employee who has been involved in an accident should immediately inform their supervisor if their health permits. It is worth noting that in the event of an accident at work, the employer is obliged, in accordance with the Regulation of the Council of Ministers on determining the circumstances and causes of accidents at work, to perform the following tasks:

• Provide first aid to the injured person and take the necessary measures to eliminate or reduce the threat.
• Secure the accident site against unauthorized access and prevent accidental activation of machinery and other technical equipment, the operation of which has been suspended due to the accident. This protection should exclude the possibility of changing the location of machines, equipment and other objects that contributed to the accident, allowing them to reconstruct the circumstances, course and determine the causes of the accident.
• Conduct a post-accident investigation in which a post-accident team will be appointed. This team will be tasked with determining the circumstances and causes of the accident by conducting a visual inspection of the scene, listening to the explanations of the injured party and witnesses, as well as seeking a doctor’s opinion.

The accident team, in accordance with the applicable regulations, must prepare a post-accident report no later than 14 days after notification of the accident. It is worth noting that the injured party has the right to raise objections and comments on the content of this protocol.

According to the Regulation of the Council of Ministers on determining the circumstances and causes of accidents at work, „the accident report shall be approved by the employer no later than within 5 days from the date of its preparation.”

Then, the employer must immediately provide the report to the injured employee and, in the event of a fatal accident, to the family members of the deceased employee. In the case of a post-accident report for fatal, serious or collective accidents, the employer immediately forwards it to the competent labour inspector.

An injured party who does not agree with the content of the report may file a lawsuit with the court for correction of the post-accident report. The costs associated with determining the circumstances and causes of accidents at work are borne by the employer.

Source: zielonalinia.gov.pl 

Source: https://www.seka.pl/wypade-przy-pracy-co-powinienes-wiedziec/

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