Occupational accident

A doctor must immediately notify the Labour Inspectorate in writing or in a format reproducible in writing (e-mail) of a fatal occupational accident, as well as of the imposition of temporary incapacity for work as a result of an occupational accident, by submitting a notice in accordance with the relevant form.

The Labour Inspectorate must immediately forward the doctor’s notice to the employer via the working environment database or in a format reproducible in writing. The Labour Inspectorate is required to issue a doctor’s notice to the legal or authorised person of the employer in encrypted form or forward a copy of the doctor’s notice if electronic receipt of the data is not possible.

If an occupational accident results in death or a life-threatening condition (generally when an ambulance is called), the employer should immediately notify the Labour Inspectorate and, in the case of a fatal occupational accident, the police, by phone or e-mail, supplying the following information:

1. Employee’s first and family name and contact phone number;
2. Place, date and time of the work accident;
3. Short description of the accident;
4. Employer’s name and address;
5. First and family name, occupation and contact phone number of the person submitting the notification.

Pursuant to subsection 1 of § 4 of the procedure for registration, reporting and investigation of occupational accidents and occupational diseases, the employer is obliged to investigate all occupational accidents in order to ascertain the circumstances and causes of the occupational accident and to determine the measures to prevent the recurrence of a similar incident. The working environment representative or, in their absence, the employees' representative also participates in the investigation. The investigation of an occupational accident shall be carried out within 10 working days after the occurrence of the occupational accident. The investigation shall end with the preparation of a report.

In the case of an occupational accident involving a temporary worker, the user undertaking shall notify the Labour Inspectorate about the accident and carrie out the investigaton. The user undertaking is the company to whom the work is being performed and where the accident happened. It is required that the report should be prepared in three copies, one of which shall be kept by the employer, two presented to the local authority of the Labour Inspectorate and to the injured party or the person protecting his/her rights within 3 working days from the completion of the investigation of an occupational accident.

If in the course of the investigation it becomes evident that it was not an accident at work, the employer prepares a statement where he describes circumstances of the accident and gives reason for termination of the investigation. The statement is signed by an employer’s representative and work environment representative, in his absence employee’s representative. Both the work accident report and the statement are  prepared in three copies, one of which is kept at the employer. The other copies are submitted to the relevant regional office of the Labour Inspectorate and the injured party or his representative within 3 working days after termination of the investigation.

Investigation of an occupational accident

The aims of an investigation of an occupational accident are:

• the exercising of supervision in order to verify proper investigation of the occupational accident and the implementation of measures for the prevention of further accidents in the working environment by the employer. conducting of an investigation by the Labour Inspectorate if deficiencies are discovered;
• impartial investigation of the occupational accident in order to ascertain the circumstances and causes thereof and to identify any causal links between the employee’s job or working environment and the accident;
• identification of any violations of the occupational health and safety requirements established by law, and the adoption of measures to prevent further violations;
• provision of clarifications to the employer regarding the creation of a safe working environment in order to prevent accidents, investigation of the implementation of adopted measures, and prescribing of safeguards to prevent the recurrence of similar accidents.

After the investigator has identified the circumstances relevant to the case, they will prepare an investigation report detailing the circumstances of the case, linking the facts to evidence, indicating the causes of the occupational accident and any causal links between the accident and the employee’s job or working environment, as well as the position of the Labour Inspectorate regarding the working environment and working arrangements of the victim, the employer’s activities, and measures which the employer must implement in order to prevent the recurrence of similar accidents at work. The investigation report will also list any violations of occupational health and safety requirements. The investigator will submit copies of the investigation report to the employer and the victim or the person defending their interests within 3 working days of the signing of the investigation report.

Violations of occupational health and safety requirements identified in the course of an investigation may lead to the issue of a precept or the initiation of misdemeanour proceedings.