Much of the country is now cold and slippery. You need to be extra careful to stay on your feet. What rights do you have if you slip on ice and get injured on your way to work?
The Social Insurance Court recently issued a ruling (TRR-2023-830) specifying what rights you have under social security act, if you slip on ice outside your workplace.
The case concerned a woman who fell on the ice in the driveway of her workplace. The woman demanded that the injuries she suffered during a fall be recognized as an accident at work within the meaning of the contract Social Insurance Act .
What is an accident at work?
According to the Social Insurance Act an accident at work is defined as "personal injury, illness or death caused by an accident at work", see Sections 13-3 . A certified accident at work can give you rights under the National Insurance Act. The judgment shows that the purpose of the provisions on accidents at work is to provide the injured party with special benefits in the social security system. Such a special benefit may be an extended right to sickness benefit from species. 8-55 . An overview of special benefits can be found in Article 13-2 of the Social Insurance Act
In Norway, accidents at work are jointly liable between the insurer and the employer. The rules for special benefits in the social security system are consistent with the regulations Social Insurance Act , while the rules regarding compulsory insurance against accidents at work in professional life can be found in Act on insurance against accidents at work . The case in the Social Insurance Court concerned rights under the Social Insurance Act.
For an injury to be considered an "accident at work" under the Social Insurance Act, the injury must occur during "work at the workplace during working hours" according to Art. 13-6 second paragraph of the Social Insurance Act.
Are you "on the job" in the driveway on your way to work?
The question for the Social Security Tribunal was whether when you walk up the driveway to your workplace you are "at the workplace." The Social Insurance Court commented on: NOU 1990:20 p. 584 , which states that "insurance against accidents at work does not apply on the way to and from the workplace." This is because occupational accident insurance must cover the risks that employees are exposed to while working. On the other hand, getting injured on the way to and from work is a "travel risk, not a work risk."
Legal norm.
With regard to the issue of whether the driveway was located "at the workplace", the Social Insurance Court assessed whether the area was open to "general traffic", i.e. whether being there was normal or natural. If this were the case, the condition would not be met.
The social security court stated that this case was of a borderline nature, but the driveway should be considered part of the "workplace". The justification for this request was:
“During its assessment, the court emphasized that most of the driveway is bounded by physical barriers in the form of building walls on the left side of the driveway and at its end, as well as a retaining wall and tall fir trees on the right side. This, combined with the fact that the entrance did not lead to any place to which the general public would naturally travel, and that access to the building in question was only available to employees with a card and code, indicates that the entrance was not in fact open to the public in the same way as added in LH-2021-96175 .
Are you entitled to benefits in the event of an accident at work?
This place resembles a driveway to the staff entrance. Thus, it differs from the case z TRR-2021-1982 , where this concerned the area outside the main entrance, which by its nature is therefore more open to general traffic. The present case also appears to have similarities to TRR-2020-2389 . In the example, the member is considered to be covered by accident at work insurance. The fact that the outer part of the driveway towards the passing road appears to be less demarcated and therefore more open to public traffic by persons traveling along the passing road cannot mean that the driveway itself was open to public traffic.”
Court decision. Injury on the way to work
The ruling shows that you can be entitled to compensation for an accident at work under social security act, if you slip on ice on your way to work. The decisive factor is that the accident site is not open to general traffic and gives the impression of an entrance for staff.
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Source: Lovdata
