Occupational accident

Occupational accident - sudden event caused by an external cause causing injury or death, which occurred in connection with the work

One of the factors affecting the frequency of accidents at work is the type of occupation or industry sector. It can also be seen that the demographic lifestyle and workplace factors carry the risk of injury from an accident. These include alcohol consumption, smoking, age or shift work (G M H Swaen and others 2003, p. 88).

Accident categories

The principal categories of occupational accident are as follows (Phil Hughes, Ed Ferrett, 2009 p. 87):

• "contact with moving machinery or material being machined
• struck by moving, flying or falling object
• hit by a moving vehicle
• struck against something fixed or stationary
• injured while handling, lifting or carrying
• slips, trips and falls on the same level
• falls from a height
• trapped by something collapsing
• drowned or asphyxiated
• exposed to, or in contact with, a harmful substance
• expose to fire
• expose to an explosion
• contact witch electricity or an electrical discharge
• injured by an animal
• physically assaulted by a person
• other kinds of accident. "

Classification of Occupational accident

According to assumptions Claudia Niza's, Sılvia Silva's, Maria Luısa Lima's, we can distinguish accident at work by the following categories (Claudia Niza, Maria Luısa Lima, Sılvia Silva, 2007, p. 964):

1. Occupational accident context - what was happening at the time or where the accident occurred, where the accident happened: accident at the workplace, during the performance of a task, an commuting to or from work.
2. Occupational accident sudden characteristic - the sudden or unexpected characteristic of the accident event.
3. Occupational accident causes - lack of safety equipment, lack of working conditions, and lack of safety training.
4. The consequences of an accident at work were splat into physical consequences and psychological consequences.

Obligations of the employer

It is the employer's responsibility after receiving information about the accident to initiate specific tasks:

• secure the place of accident until the circumstances of the accident are determined
• after receiving an accident report, the employer appoints a post-accident team whose task is to investigate the circumstances, causes, and relationship of the accident with work

The employer must enter into the work accident register all documents regarding the accident at work. Such documentation should include:

• name of the injured person
• date of the accident
• accident place
• information on the consequences of the accident for the injured person
• determining if the accident was considered an accident at work
• date of submitting documents to the Social Insurance Institution regarding the payment of benefits for the accident
• the number of days the injured party was unable to work

Occupational accident — recommended articles

Occupational hygiene — Employee file — Work environment — Windstorm Insurance — Duties of employers — Contractual liability — Employee — Absenteeism in the workplace — Workload analysis

References

• Amelsvoort van L G P M, Bültmann U, Kant IJ, Swaen G M H (2003), Fatigue as a risk factor for being injured in an occupational accident: results from the Maastricht Cohort Study, Occupational and Environmental Medicine, Issue 1
• Arezes P. M., Baptista J. S., Barroso M. P., Carneiro P., Cordeiro P., Costa N., Melo R. B., Miguel A. S., Perestrelo G. (2016), Occupational Safety and Hygiene IV, Taylor & Francis Group, London
• Ferrett E., Hughes P. (2009), Introduction to Health and Safety at Work, Elsevier Limited, Oxford
• Lima M. L., Niza C., Silva S., (2007), Occupational accident experience: Association with workerC.G. Hoyos, B.M. Zimolongs’ accident explanation and definitione, Elsevier Ltd.,Issue 6
• Stranks J. (2006), The Manager's Guide to Health and Safety at Work, Kogan Page, London
• Tómasson K, (2011) Fatal Occupational Accidents in the Nordic Countries 2003-2008, Nordic Council of Ministers, Copenhagen

Author: Weronika Chudzik