Another category of accidents is the so-called occupational accidents. Occupational accidents are accidents that occur at the workplace or during a person’s work. Every worker, apart from obligations, has rights, including rights to work in safe workplaces, with safe methods and appropriate equipment, which do not involve hidden or unusual risks. If an employee suffers an accident at work, the procedure to follow to obtain compensation is as follows:
First of all, he must make a complaint to the District Labor Office, so that the accident is notified. The Labour Office will conduct an investigation into the circumstances and causes of the accident. It will check whether the employer, at the material time of the accident, had a safe Safety and Health Management System and whether it had prepared a Safety and Health Plan and a written risk assessment for the activities performed, in accordance with the provisions of the relevant Legislation and the applicable safety regulations. Among other things, the District Labour Office will also check whether the worker who suffered the occupational accident was under incomplete supervision or not any supervision at all, whether the employer provided the necessary care to provide adequate protection and safety for his employee, whether the employer took protective measures for his employee, whether the methods and equipment used for the work were appropriate and suitable in the circumstances, and whether the employer provided a warning for some potential hidden danger in the workplace.
Every employer is obliged by law to immediately notify the District Labor Office of any accident of his employee. Moreover, each employer has the obligation to have employer liability insurance cover, so in case of an occupational accident, the employee is compensated by the insurance company.
When the investigation of the causes and conditions under which the accident occurred is completed, the District Labour Office prepares a relevant Accident Investigation Report and notifies it to the employee or his lawyer. The content of the Accident Investigation Report prepared by the District Labour Office is of due importance for the outcome of the accident case, as it constitutes the finding and/or the result of the Labour Office investigations, after receiving statements from all parties involved and witnesses present when the accident occurred. The Accident Investigation Report includes the taking of photographic material from the accident site.
After being notified of the Accident Investigation Report, the lawyer studies it and then forwards it along with a letter to the employer’s insurance company, but also to the employer himself, attaching to the relevant letter the amount of his client’s claim. The Lawyer ends up to the amount of compensation that his client is entitled to after studying all the medical certificates in his possession concerning the injuries suffered by his client.
Special Compensation is compensation for expenses and special damages suffered by the injured person who is not responsible for the cause of the occupational accident in question, such as medical expenses, physiotherapy expenses, medication costs, etc. General Compensation is the compensation for the injuries suffered by the person involved in the occupational accident. General Compensation is calculated based on decisions of the Supreme Court in the past. That is, what is compared is what the Supreme Court decided in another case on the same or similar injuries as in this case. The most common injury is neck contusion and/or straightening of the cervical spine. Recent Supreme Court rulings awarded amounts of €3,500 and €4,500 respectively for neck contusion. When a hernia occurs in the neck area, compensation increases to €6,000-€8,000. When there is a disc protrusion, it increases to €30,000-€40,000, which further increases in case surgery is required. When there are fractures that are not comminuted or displaced, then compensation amounts to €15,000. When fractures are comminuted or extrapolated the amount of compensation increases.
Injury to the neck area may worsen in the future, and the problem may return with changes in weather conditions or after fatigue. The damages awarded for injury in the neck area vary depending on the treatment, suffering, mental anguish, and recovery time of the person who will suffer the injury.
If you were involved in an occupational accident, then contact our law firm so that we can arrange a meeting and evaluate your case. It is very important to turn to specialists so that you can claim the maximum percentage of the compensation you are entitled to receive, so that you are not exploited by insurance companies, which always try to pay as low a compensation amount as possible.
Author : Merkouris Telonis
The content of this article is intended to provide a general guide to the subject matter and does not constitute at any way legal advice. We recommend that if you are interested for professional legal advice in the specific matter please contact Merkouris Telonis, partner of our firm via tel 26911701 or email at [email protected]
