What is a workplace accident?
According to the Occupational Health and Safety Act, an occupational accident is an event at work or during working hours that immediately results in damage to health. It can be an accident in a company, in an institution, at a (construction) site or when working on the road. Accidents that take place on public roads can therefore also fall under the definitions of industrial accident and occupational accident. As a rule, however, there is no industrial accident if the injury occurs while driving to or from work (commuting).
What to do in a workplace accident
Serious workplace accidents must be reported immediately to the Inspectorate SZW according to the Occupational Health and Safety Act. The Inspectorate SZW records all important information and determines on this basis whether an accident investigation will take place. In general, a serious accident occurs if the victim is hospitalized, if there are permanent injuries or if the victim died from the consequences.
In 2019, 93 thousand workplace accidents occurred that prevented employees from working for at least four days. This number has hardly changed in the last few years. Most accidents have a physical cause, but in a quarter of the accidents mental overload plays a role. In 23 thousand workplace accidents (25%) with at least four days of absence from work, the main cause of injury was psychological overexertion. In most workplace accidents, however, the cause was physical.
