Accidents At Work

Accidents at work

Life is dangerous, so is work. Those who work generally have a better chance of staying healthy. But in addition to this positive effect, a job can also harbor health risks: in Austria, more than 120,000 people suffer an industrial accident every year. In order to ensure optimal protection at the workplace or in the event of an accident at work, the insurance-related and legal situation is precisely regulated. To reduce the risk of accidents, more and more companies are introducing corporate health management.

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• How are accidents at work defined?
• How common are work accidents?
• What are the legal bases?
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How are accidents at work defined?

There are different types of accidents at work:

• Occupational accidents in the narrower sense: An accident is understood to be a sudden or limited time event, an external influence or an extraordinary stress that leads to damage to health. The accident must be related to the insured activity and the accident must be the cause of the damage to health.
• Commuting accidents: This includes accidents on the way to or from the job or from or to the activity. In terms of insurance, commuting accidents are rated like work-related accidents.

Note Certain other accidents are treated the same as occupational accidents, even if they affect people who are not insured. These include, for example, accidents when rescuing a person from danger to life, when donating blood, accidents when volunteer aid organizations such as the volunteer fire brigade are deployed.

How common are work accidents?

In the period from 1995 to 2017, the number of occupational accidents in the narrower sense (i.e. excluding commuting accidents) fell by a third - from just under 164,000 to around 107,000 per year. The number of fatal accidents at work has also decreased significantly (from 311 to 113). These decreases are likely to be related to technological change and improved safety in the workplace.

Men are much more likely to be victims of accidents at work than women. This is partly due to the fact that men have been gainfully employed to a greater extent than women in recent decades and have been less employed part-time.

If you “factor out” this reason and look at the relative figures, the figures still speak for themselves: men suffer about three times as many accidents at work as women. Work accidents are most common among young men between the ages of 15 and 24. The number decreases with age, but the severity increases. Most fatal accidents at work occur in men between the ages of 45 and 54. Here the 15 to 24 year olds show the lowest value.

The greater risk of accidents for men is largely due to their work in potentially more dangerous industries. Almost every twentieth occupational accident occurs in agriculture and forestry, and every seventh in the construction industry. It is also not surprising that manual workers are more frequently affected by occupational accidents than office or managerial staff.

What are the legal bases?

The Austrian compulsory insurance usually includes accident insurance. For self-employed and employed persons, the (work) accident insurance is regulated in the General Social Insurance Act (ASVG). The accident insurance basically has the task of eliminating the consequences of the accident by all suitable means. The accident insurance for farmers is regulated in the BSVG, the accident insurance for civil servants in the B-KUVG.

Accident insurance through self-insurance is possible for certain people who do not belong to the group of compulsorily insured persons. The annual contribution amount is two percent of the statutory contribution basis for the self-insured. You can obtain more information on voluntary self-insurance from AUVA, among others. as well as at the regional health insurance funds.

The Employee Protection Act (ASchG) is the basis for the occupational safety and health protection of employees in Austria. It applies to all persons who are employed in the context of an employment or training relationship. Temporary workers, so-called temporary workers, are also included. Other statutory provisions only apply to employees of federal, state and municipal offices, of agricultural and forestry operations, in private households and for home workers.

According to the ASchG, there are not only obligations of employers when it comes to occupational safety measures, employees must also contribute to compliance with occupational safety regulations. They must use the funds made available and adhere to the work processes developed for their protection.

When an accident at work happens..

Every accident at work that kills an insured person or has been completely or partially unable to work for more than three days must be reported by the employer to the responsible accident insurance company within five days. You can find forms for this under AUVA forms.

The prerequisite for this is that the accident has been reported to the employer. Employees are obliged to inform their employer not only of every accident at work, but also of every "near-accident" and every existing risk to safety and health.

In the event of an accident at work, the relevant accident insurance company takes over both medical treatment and rehabilitation and, under certain legal requirements, financial compensation for the accident victim or the surviving dependents. Depending on the employment relationship, either the General Accident Insurance Company (AUVA), the Insurance Company for Public Employees, Railways and Mining (BVAEB), the Insurance Company for Public Employees (BVAEB) or the Social Security of Farmers (SVS) are responsible.

Corporate Health Management

Accidents at work not only mean a lot of personal suffering and loss of quality of life, they also cause considerable damage to the economy (e.g. personnel costs, material costs, loss of earnings, loss of sales, court costs, loss of image) and burdens for society (e.g. costs for the health system and social security, loss of taxes). It is therefore in everyone's interest to avoid accidents at work.

More and more companies are therefore integrating company health management (OHM) into their corporate strategy. In doing so, they often take advantage of inter-company offers that are offered by the Federal Ministry of Labor, Social Health and Consumer Protection (BMSGPK) or by social insurance companies. Here are two examples:

BAUfit is an AUVA prevention program for the construction industry. It has been running for more than ten years and offers construction workers training on targeted compensatory exercises as well as practical knowledge of how to work properly. The evaluation of previous projects shows that the number of sick days has been halved and that of work accidents has been reduced by a quarter compared to the respective period of the previous year. In the meantime, the program has been expanded to include modules on psychological stress at work and how to reduce or cope with it

• fit2work is a cross-company program that supports companies in successfully implementing company health management.

  Talk to your management about it! In addition, the program also offers free advice to people with health problems, whose job is at risk, or who have difficulty finding a job.

Because it is always better for the individual to be able to work reasonably healthily than to get a pension when sick or injured, prevention is a priority. Companies and insurance companies support this. More and more companies are starting a company health promotion (BGF) project and are competing to be awarded a BGF seal of approval.

Further information on creating a healthy working environment can be found under Profession: Advice, Downloads & Tools.