Work-related accident: 3 conditions that must be met

In order for you to determine whether this constitutes an accident at work, three conditions must be met:

1. Work-related nature: the accident must have taken place during working hours and at the workplace, including any location to which the employee has been sent on business;
2. The sudden nature of the event;
3. The existence of a physical injury, regardless of its severity: there must be a cause-and-effect relationship between the employee’s injuries and the accident.

If all these criteria are met, the accident and the resulting injuries are presumed to be ‘attributable’ to work: this is the presumption of work-relatedness.

The presumption that injuries arising from an accident at work are attributable to work extends throughout the entire period of incapacity for work preceding either the employee’s full recovery or the stabilisation of their condition.

If you wish to challenge the presumption of work-relatedness, you must provide evidence that the accident or the injuries observed are attributable to a cause unrelated to work: the employee was engaged in a personal activity at the time of the accident; the injuries are merely a manifestation of a pre-existing medical condition; etc. Such proof is difficult to provide.

Provided it occurs during working hours and at the workplace, the death of an employee is presumed to be work-related, even if it is a suicide. To rule out classification as an accident at work, the employer must demonstrate that the suicide was caused by factors entirely unrelated to work (such as depression following a break-up, for example).

Note: In some countries, social security authorities may also request a post-mortem examination of an employee who has suffered a fatal illness at work. If the beneficiaries do not object to this request, the presumption of work-relatedness is not rebutted, regardless of whether the post-mortem was rendered impossible by the complete and total disappearance of evidence within four days of the accident. The next of kin will not be required to prove a causal link between the accident and the death.