Legal Mechanism To Deal With Work Injuries and Occupational diseases In accordance with UAE Labor Law No. 8 of 1980 and amendments The first article of the WhatsApp: +971555570005
Legal mechanism to deal with work injuries and occupational diseases
In accordance with UAE Labor Law No. 8 of 1980 and amendments
The first article of the UAE labor law defines the work injury as:
Is the injury of a worker to an occupational disease in the schedule attached to this law or any other injury arising from his work obtained during the performance of that work and because of it and in the case of the injury of the work every accident occurring to the worker during the period of going to work or returning from it provided that the return and go without interruption or failure Or deviation from the natural path.
Therefore, the injury of the work is exclusively that injury to the worker during the performance of his work, such as falling of metal piece on his foot, for example, or that the result of his work for long periods of time in an atmosphere contaminated with toxic gases such as work at petrol stations,The work injury shall also include any injury or accident to which the worker is exposed in the normal course of his work. A work injury shall not be considered if the worker is injured in an accident outside the official working hours, In this case, his destination is not his place of work. He referred to the status of return to work within the period in which the injury is related to work.
The law classifies occupational injuries and occupational diseases with two tables attached to the Labor Law, So that the first table includes cases of poisoning with minerals, sulfur, phosphorus and petroleum derivatives, as well as incurable skin diseases, eye diseases and others, While the second table includes cases of paralysis and loss of senses and loss of limbs even the smallest part.
In the event of any work injuries, the UAE Labor Code specifies the procedures to be taken in the workplace, which is to inform the police and the labor department of the accident and its circumstances after providing first aid to the injured. Article 142 states the following:
If the worker is injured by an occupational injury or disease, as shown in Tables (1) and (2) attached to this law, the employer or his representative shall immediately notify the police department and the labor department or one of its branches located in its place of work .And it shall include the worker’s name, age, occupation, address, nationality, a brief description of the incident and its circumstances, and the measures taken to remedy or cure it., Once the communication arrives, the police shall carry out the necessary investigation. The witness, employer or his representative and the statement of the injured person shall be recorded in the record, if his condition so permits. The minutes shall indicate in particular whether the incident is related to the act and whether it was committed intentionally and as a result of gross misconduct by the worker.
It is clear from the text of the article that the law requires the police department to conduct a full investigation, to hear the statements of witnesses from the employer to the other workers colleagues of the injured worker, and even the worker himself if the state of health allows, in order to know all the circumstances of the incident that caused injury The importance of the investigation is to determine the circumstances of the incident، Is it a fatal accident or because of the weakness of the industrial security measures in place in the establishment or because of the negligence of the worker and distracting him himself and his work. In rare cases, the accident may be done intentionally by the injured person, or by reason of a causative agent..
After the investigation by the police department, a copy of the record is sent to the Labor Department and another to the employer, as stated in the text of Article 143, which said:
Upon completion of the investigation, the police shall send a copy of the record to the Labor Department and another to the employer. The Labor Department may request the completion of the investigation or it may complete it immediately if it deems it necessary.
We note from the text of the article how the law gave the Labor Department the power to request completion of the investigation or to complete it on its own, and does not seem surprising, it is part of the law is keen to clarify the truth and the realization of the right, And the investigation of the work department and that came to complete the investigation of the police department, And the incident is seen from another angle, purely working angle.
When the worker enters the hospital, the law makes all the costs of treatment at the expense of the employer, which is the logic of the eye, because the worker who gave his effort in favor of the institute, to pay for the costs of his treatment,
This is confirmed by Article 144, which mentioned:
In case of occupational injury and occupational diseases, the employer shall pay the expenses of treating the worker in one of the governmental or local governmental treatment rooms until the worker is cured or proven incapacitated. The treatment includes hospital stay, medical examination, surgeries, Photo Radiation expenses As well as the purchase of medicines and rehabilitation equipment and the provision of limbs and prosthetic devices in respect of proof of incapacity, and the employer, as well as the foregoing, to pay the transfer expenses required by the treatment of the worker.
In case the injury of the worker is too large that will prevent him from continuing his work, the law requires the employer to provide financial aid to the injured, and the amount depends on the nature of the contract that existed between the worker and the employer, the worker should receives a monthly wage or a day or a payer, until he has recovered from his injury. If the period of treatment lasts longer than six months, the financial aid provided by the employer shall be reduced by half in the next six months or until he is recovered or proven his inability is shorter, as stated in Article 145:
If the injury between the worker and the performance of his work, the employer must lead him to a financial aid equivalent to a full fee for the duration of the treatment or for six months whichever is shorter if the treatment took more than six months reduced aid by half for another six months or until the recovery of the worker or Proves his disability or dies whichever is shorter.
As for the worker who is paid by piece, the financial aid is the average daily wage provided for in Article 57, which is written according to the following:
The daily wage shall be calculated for the workers who are paid on a piece-by-piece basis on the average of worker’s actual working days during the six months preceding the end of service ” in accordance with article 146 of the law ”
The above mentioned articles indicate that the labor law, specifically with regard to work injuries, was precise and detailed in its provisions. Most importantly, it made the worker’s health and safety above all considerations and provided legal protection to the worker as a result of work injuries.
Mohamed Mahmoud Al Marzooqi law firm
Attorney / Mohamed Al Marzooqi
Mohamed Al Marzooqi advocates & Consultancy
Lawyer in Abu Dhabi, Dubai – UAE
