An accident at work, also known as an occupational accident, is an accident that occurs to the employee on the way to work, also known as a commuting accident, or during working hours on the company premises - i.e. in direct connection with the insured activity.
This also distinguishes it from leisure accidents. These occur in the personal sphere of the accident victim. The Occupational Health and Safety Act (ArbSchG), the Occupational Safety Act (ASiG) and the Social Code SGB VII "Statutory Accident Insurance" form the legal core for accidents at work.
The responsible insurance provider decides when an accident is recognised as an accident at work. The following requirements must be met:
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An accident at work must be reported if an insured person is injured or killed as a result of the accident. In the event of an injury, the incapacity to work must last longer than three days for the employer to report the accident to the accident insurance institution. Serious injuries also require a report to the occupational health and safety department of the competent state authority.
Insurance cover is provided for activities that are directly related to the insured activity, e.g. when renewing, transporting, storing and maintaining work equipment. Employees are also insured during company sports, company outings and company parties as well as school pupils during school outings and school parties, provided these are organised by the school.
An accident at work requires a temporary external event that affects the body and leads to damage to health. Injuries or damage to health without external impact, such as swallowing, are not insured. Property damage is also not covered by statutory accident insurance unless it is caused by first aid measures or is directly related to the accident at work.
In principle, an accident while working from home can also be categorised as an accident at work in accordance with the new provisions of Section 8 (1) sentence 3 SGB VII. Accident insurance cover when working from home requires an explicit agreement between the employer and employee and is usually set out in writing in the form of a supplementary agreement to the employment contract.
An accident in the home office is considered an accident at work if the accident occurred as a result of the insured activity and the preceding action serves the business purpose: If the employee falls down the basement stairs on the way to the home office to organise files or connect the work mobile phone, this is considered an accident at work. The situation is different if a private parcel is delivered and the employee is injured on the way to the front door.
The accident should be reported to the employer in writing as soon as possible. The course of the accident should be described as precisely as possible and preferably documented with photos. Any witnesses should also be named immediately.
If the accident has occurred at work, the company's internal reporting chain should be activated immediately and, depending on the severity of the injury, the emergency services should be called.
All accidents and injuries in the workplace must be documented: In addition to the physical reporting pad, WERO has designed a digital first aid book. This makes it easier to make entries, eliminates the need for physical filing and other work steps and also complies with the GDPR.
If the injury is not so serious that the person concerned needs to go to hospital, a transit doctor will be called in. This is a medical expert who specialises in accidents at work.
The statutory accident insurance institution of the respective company decides whether an accident is categorised as an accident at work. The personnel management must submit the accident report in the form of a written accident report accordingly. The commercial employers' liability insurance association is responsible for private commercial enterprises, the agricultural employers' liability insurance association is responsible for agriculture and forestry, and the public sector accident insurance provider is responsible for the public sector and social institutions.
Injury benefit is paid in the event of incapacity to work as a result of an accident at work or an occupational disease (illness as a result of an occupational activity, e.g. caused by chemicals). The employers' liability insurance associations pay the injury benefit after the end of the continued payment of remuneration by the employer and during the period of medical rehabilitation.
In the first six weeks after an accident at work, the continued payment of wages is no different from that for a normal illness. After that, the injured employee receives an injury benefit from the responsible insurance provider amounting to 80 per cent of the normal salary.
If a child under the age of twelve has an accident at school or on the way to school, a parent can be released from work to look after the child and receive child injury benefit. The prerequisite for this is a medical certificate confirming that the child is in need of care.
The following measures should be taken internally before a possible accident and checked regularly:
WERO services address precisely these challenges and operational requirements. Our specialist and medical product consultants will be happy to instruct your employees accordingly, check the available first aid material and regularly check that it is complete. You can find our entire WERO4YOU range of services here.