Industrial accident

In many cases, we see that people injured at work confuse the concepts of accidents at work and occupational accidents, effectively equating the two.

However, it is important to stress that not all work-related accidents are industrial accidents and not all accidents at work are accidents at work.

An accident at work is an accident which occurs to a worker in the course of or in connection with the performance of his/her work, regardless of the place and time of the accident and the degree of involvement of the worker (injured person).

An accident occurs in the course of work if the worker is involved in transport, receiving, handling, cleaning, organised canteens, occupational health services, other services provided by the employer, etc., in connection with work in the course of his/her occupational activities.

A work-related accident (accident at work) is not considered to be an accident that occurs while the injured person is travelling from his/her home (accommodation) to his/her place of work or from his/her place of work to his/her home (accommodation), unless the accident occurred in the employer’s own or hired vehicle.

An industrial accident, on the other hand, is a social security concept.

In the event of an accident at work, the employee becomes entitled to accident benefits from the health insurance scheme, for example, accident sickness benefit, accident allowance, reduced-rate medicine, travel expenses, etc…

From a social security point of view, the following accidents can be considered as industrial accidents:

• the insured person (the injured person) is injured at work or in connection with work in the course of his/her employment(occupational accident), or
• an accident (work-related road trafficaccident) while travelling to or from your home (accommodation), and
• the insured person while performing public work, and
• the insured person has been in receipt of certain social security benefits (in connection with an incapacity for work, an order to assess the extent of his/her health impairment, his/her rehabilitation, or other examination or treatment necessary for him/her to become fit for work).

If an accident that has occurred falls into one of the above categories, the injured person will be entitled to benefits financed by social security.

It is important to stress that these benefits are only available to people with a proven insurance status. If you are working “in the black” for your employer, you will not be entitled to social security benefits either! However, you can still claim compensation from your employer for damages caused by an accident at work!

However, the following cases are excluded from the scope of industrial accidents:

• the accident was caused solely by the injured person’s proven intoxication by alcohol or drugs (Note that this is not necessarily true either, since if there is no proven link between the intoxication and the accident, it can still be considered an industrial accident).
• unauthorised work not related to work duties, unauthorised use of a vehicle, an accident during a workplace disturbance (classic foul play is not included, where an employee is injured while working for his or her own benefit during working hours).
• an accident occurring while travelling from home to work or from work to home, taking an unjustified route other than the shortest route, or during an unjustified interruption of the journey. (This does not include, for example, a mother going to and from nursery school to pick up her child while she is at work.)
• a worker who deliberately caused his/her injury or deliberately delayed in seeking medical assistance or in reporting the accident is not entitled to accident benefits.

It can therefore be concluded that an industrial accident is a much broader concept of accident situation, as it also includes, for example, road accidents that are not accidents at work. On the other hand, it is also narrower, since not all accidents at work are also industrial accidents.

In many cases, it is therefore appropriate to consider carefully the possible legal consequences of an accident, as workers affected by an accident may be entitled to a wide range of benefits and compensation.