Notification of Work Accidents to the competent Authority
Introduction
New regulations concerning the reporting of Accidents and Dangerous Occurrences came into effect on the 7/12/2007. These new Regulations named as “The Safety and Health at Work (Accidents and Dangerous Occurrences Notification) Regulations of 2007 (P.I. 531/2007)” have substituted the previous “Accidents and Occupational Diseases (Notification) Law, Section 176”.
What is defined as “accident”?
According to the above mentioned Regulations, the term “Accident” is defined as a discrete event which causes physical or mental harm or loss of life to:
(a) an employee or a self-employed person during the course of his/her employment or during the normal journey between his/her home and his/her place of work
(b) a person who is not at work during the time of the accident, provided that the accident is related to work activities.
Which accidents are notifiable?
According to the above Regulations, an accident is defined as notifiable:
(a) when it concerns an employee or a self-employed person, causing him/her loss of life or making him/her unable to perform his/her normal work, in which he/she is employed, for more than three consecutive calendar days, excluding the day of the accident
(b) when it concerns a person who is not at work, causing him/her loss of life or injury, which results the treatment of this person by a doctor or a treatment in a hospital or a clinic.
Which accidents are not notifiable?
(a) accidents resulting from deliberate injuries
(b) accidents having pathological causes (e.g. heart attacks)
Who is responsible for reporting an accident?
(a) when the accident concerns an employee, his/her employer
(b) when the accident concerns a self-employed person, himself/herself if it is a non-fatal accident, or his/her closer relative, when it is a fatal accident
(c) when the accident concerns a person who is not at work, the person who has the control of the working place where the accident happened or the person who is conducting the activities in that place.
Where, how and when accidents are reported?
Accidents can be reported as follows:
(a) with the completion and submission of the accident notification form, which consists part of the common form «Claim for an Injury benefit / Accident Notification». The form should be submitted to the District Labor Inspection Office (the competent Authority) of the District where the accident happened, either directly or through the respective District Social Insurance Office. The Common form is available at the District Labor Inspection Offices and the District Social Insurance Offices,
(b) with the completion and submission of the accident notification form TEE-A-1/DLI-A-1 to the District Labor Inspection Office of the District where the accident happened. This form is available at the District Labor Inspection Offices and the official Website of the Department of Labor Inspection,
(c) with the completion and submission of the electronic notification form, which is available in the official Website of the Department of Labor Inspection, to the relevant District Labor Inspection Office.
Firstly, the person, who is responsible for the notification of an accident, should immediately inform the relevant District Labor Inspection Office, with the fastest practical way, in order to enable the investigation of the accident before the accident scene is modified. After that the accident should also be notified in writing in a way mentioned above, within 15 days from the date of the accident.
If the accident notification form is received by the responsible District Inspection Office, with a delay of more than 15 days after the accident, the responsible person may receive a written warning, if he/she had contravened the legislation involuntarily for the first time or been prosecuted.
Accident Investigation report
The victim of an accident or other affected person may request, himself/herself of through his/her representative to have a copy of the investigation report, if such a report has been prepared, by sending a written request to the relevant District Labor Inspection Office. When the victim of an accident or other person sue any person for damages, he/she may request, through the court procedures, the submission of information collected by the Inspector during the investigation of the accident.