Workplace injury: what the employer must do and when

Workplace injury: what the employer must do and when

After a workplace injury, decisions are made in hours. Some duties fall on the employee, most on the employer, and the deadlines run from the moment the employer learned about the injury, not from the date it happened.

What the employee must do

The employee must report the workplace injury to the employer without delay, if their state of health allows it (Section 17(1) of Act No. 124/2006 Coll. on occupational safety and health). The same reporting duty applies to any employee or other person who witnessed the injury (Section 17(2)).

The same provision contains a duty that companies tend to overlook: the employer must lay down in an internal rule who the injury is reported to and how. Without it, the employee does not know whom to call and time is lost right at the start.

The first hours after an injury

Once the injury is reported, the employer must without delay take the measures needed to prevent any further threat to life and health (Section 17(3)).

If the injury is one that is reported to the police or to the labour inspectorate, the state of the workplace must not be changed until the investigating authorities arrive. The only exception is measures that are necessary to protect life and health or to prevent major economic damage. If the workplace does change as a result of such measures, the employer must document its original state. In practice this means photographs and a simple sketch before anything is cleaned up.

Which injury is a registered injury

A registered workplace injury is one that caused incapacity for work lasting more than three days, or the death of the employee as a result of the injury (Section 17(4)). A serious workplace injury means death or grievous bodily harm.

For a registered workplace injury the employer must establish the cause and all the circumstances, with the injured employee present if their health allows it, and with the employee safety representative present. For a serious workplace injury, a safety technician must also be called in to the investigation.

The deadlines in brief

• Without delay: report a registered workplace injury to the employee representatives, to the Police Force where a criminal offence is suspected, and, for a serious workplace injury, to the competent labour inspectorate (Section 17(5)).
• Within three days: report to the branch of the Social Insurance Agency any workplace injury that required medical treatment or temporary incapacity for work (Section 231(1)(i) of Act No. 461/2003 Coll.).
• Within eight days: draw up the record of the registered workplace injury (Section 17(4)), send it to the labour inspectorate and to the employee or surviving family members (Section 17(7)), and submit it to the branch of the Social Insurance Agency (Section 231(1)(j) of Act No. 461/2003 Coll.).
• Within 30 days: for a serious workplace injury, send the labour inspectorate a report on the investigation of the causes and circumstances and on the measures taken (Section 17(7)).

All eight-day periods run from the day the employer learned that the injury is a registered workplace injury. Not from the date of the injury. The difference is usually a few days, because the length of the sick leave only becomes clear later.

An injury at another employer's workplace

If an employee is injured at another employer's workplace, for example on a construction site or during assembly at a customer's premises, the operator of that workplace must report the injury to the injured person's employer without delay, meet the reporting duties towards the authorities, establish the cause, draw up the basis for the record and send it to the employee's employer (Section 17(6)). The record itself and its dispatch are then handled by the employee's employer. This is the most common source of confusion in subcontracting, so it is worth settling it in the works contract.

The records that are not sent anywhere

In addition to the records of injuries, the employer must keep a register of workplace injuries, a register of other injuries and dangerous events, and a register of recognised occupational diseases and threats of occupational disease (Section 17(8)). The register of minor injuries and dangerous events is usually the first thing an inspector asks to see, and the first thing that is missing.

Why it pays to have this rehearsed

The labour inspectorate may impose a fine of up to EUR 100,000. Where the breach resulted in a workplace injury causing grievous bodily harm, the fine is at least EUR 20,000, and at least EUR 33,000 for a fatal workplace injury (Section 19(1) of Act No. 125/2006 Coll.).

If you are dealing with this right now

Investigating causes, drawing up the record and communicating with the inspectorate are part of the occupational safety service we provide to our clients. If you need help with a specific injury, get in touch.