Hey Compliance Warriors!
Here’s some interesting information as far as what can be considered a work related accident. Read on…
Article via: lexology.com
“Supreme Court case law assumes that cardiovascular damage is a work-related accident, due to the fact that stress from work often triggers or contributes to cardiovascular disease.
The Supreme Court has ruled the death of a security guard that suffered a sudden heart attack at work and during working hours as a work-related accident, as the main risk factor was high blood pressure resulting from stress from work. The Court considered the worker’s death as a work-related accident, despite the fact that he did not have a record of illness, was in a good state of health and smoked three packs of cigarettes a day.
In its judgment dated April 25, 2018, the Supreme Court considered that, notwithstanding the common etiology of cardiovascular disease, high blood pressure resulting from stress in the workplace cannot be ruled out as the cause or having contributed to the illness.
The Court therefore concluded that the assumption of accidents that take place at work and during working hours as work-related was applicable to the case, without the fact that the worker had smoked three packs of cigarettes a day for ten years undermining such assumption (or the fact that the Court itself acknowledged smoking as another risk factor).
Notwithstanding the above, the Supreme Court considered that, apart from the common etiology of cardiovascular disease, high blood pressure resulting from stress in the workplace cannot be ruled out as the cause or having contributed to the illness.
Background
A year ago, we published a blog entry that analyzed cases classified as work-related accidents or illnesses and commented on the judgment by the High Court of Justice of Andalusia, of June 1, 2017, which considered stress as a cause of work-related accidents.
In this regard, the General Social Security Law establishes an assumption that, unless proven otherwise, an injury suffered by a worker at work and during working hours is deemed as a work-related accident. According to the Supreme Court, this assumption applies to heart disease, even though the cause cannot be strictly considered as related to work, due to the fact that stress from work often triggers or contributes to cardiovascular disease.”
For more information:
https://www.lexology.com/library/detail.aspx?g=37d54a86-137b-447d-a9d0-1b133eb9552a&utm_source=Lexology+Daily+Newsfeed&utm_medium=HTML+email+-+Body+-+General+section&utm_campaign=Lexology+subscriber+daily+feed&utm_content=Lexology+Daily+Newsfeed+2018-12-07&utm_term=
Until Next Time, Be Audit-Secure!
Lisa Smith
