ILO standards for employment injury

According to ILO Social Security (Minimum Standards) Convention, 1952 (No. 102) (Article 32), the contingencies covered under the employment injury benefit include the following accident-at-work or employment-related diseases: (a) sickness (“morbid condition”), (b) temporary incapacity for work resulting from such a condition, (c) total or partial loss of earning capacity, likely to be permanent and (d) the loss of support suffered by dependents as the result of the death of the breadwinner. In addition, the range of benefits required by Convention No. 102 includes necessary medical care, sickness benefit for the period of incapacity for work, disability pension in case of loss of earning capacity, and survivors’ pension in case of death of a breadwinner.

Occupational Safety and health

Most countries in the world offer some coverage for work-related injuries. Many also include occupational disease. In fact, in most countries employment injury was the first contingency covered by social security; these schemes are often closely linked to occupational health and safety regulations. Many schemes also include preventive elements, aimed at improving workplace safety.

In employment injury scheme, compensation and prevention are logically and practically not separable. It is obvious that the most desirable way to reduce the cost of occupational injuries and diseases is to reduce their incidence. For the effective setting of preventive strategy, the collection and analysis of data on occupational accident and disease is very important. In this regard, reporting system can be supplemented by sharing the broader data on occupational accident & disease and compensation among related institutions. In addition, certain portions of EII fund can be allocated for occupational safety & health, and economic incentive such as experience rating system from EII be considered for encouraging employers to invest more on prevention. As a result, successful prevention programmes to reduce industrial accidents not only decrease the number of beneficiaries naturally, but also reduce the expenditure of disability compensations, thus facilitating stable finance.

For more information on the linkage between employment injury benefits and occupational safety and health, click here. 

Compensation

The employment injury schemes benefits in kind or in cash for workers at contingency caused by occupational injury and disease are:

• Temporary incapacity cash benefits: Most employment injury social security systems pay cash benefits to injured workers until the latter return to work or have reached maximum medical recovery. Temporary incapacity also includes periods of absence from work because of rehabilitation programmes aimed at minimizing the permanent loss of earning capacity.

• Permanent incapacity and survivorship benefits: Permanent incapacity benefits are paid after the medical condition of the injured person has stabilized and the worker has gone through vocational rehabilitation programmes, whenever these are available. Permanent incapacity can be either total or partial. When a worker dies due to a work-related accident or disease, benefits are paid to the survivors; the surviving spouse and children are always considered.

• Medical expenses and rehabilitation benefits: these benefits can be provided under the workers' compensation legislation or under general programmes not limited to work injuries and diseases. The injured worker is generally entitled to receive the medical attention necessary for a full recovery. The rehabilitation benefits include the expenses incurred for the services that are needed to return workers to their work and day-to-day living.

Rehabilitation and back to work

The Employment Injury Benefits Convention, 1964 (No. 121) (article 26) requires member countries to provide rehabilitation services which are designed to prepare a disabled person for the resumption of his/her previous activity, or, if this is not possible, the most suitable alternative works, having regard to his/her aptitudes and capacity; and to take measures to further the placement of disabled persons in suitable employment.

Sustainability of employment injury and occupational diseases schemes can be achieved by allowing implementation of policies to minimize the side effects of the disability through prevention measures, early-stage medical treatments, and rehabilitation.