You are in a motor vehicle accident while on duty – what now
In South Africa, the Compensation for Occupational Injuries and Diseases Act, Act 130 of 1993 (COIDA), largely governs compensation related matters after an injury on duty or and illness on duty.
The COIDA mainly enable a process which provides for payment of reasonable medical treatment and compensation for disablement caused by occupational injuries and diseases sustained by employees in the course of their employment, or for death resulting from such injuries or diseases; and to provide for matters connected therewith.
Let us look at some questions we frequently receive:
An employee is involved in an accident, travelling to and from work, will the employee be covered by COIDA?
- Short answer – No.
- As written in COIDA the definition of an accident is: ‘‘an accident arising out of and in the course of an employee’s employment and resulting in a personal injury, illness or the death of the employee’’.
- For the employee to claim, the accident should ‘‘arise out of and in the course of an employee’s employment’’. It should have occurred while the employee was on duty and should have been part of the employees’ scope of duty. This means that the accident should have occurred because the employee was on duty at work doing what he was employed to do as per his job description.
- This means, that the employment caused the accident or exposed the employee to the risk of the accident while the employee was doing a task that he is employed to do.
- An employee, who is travelling to and from work, would normally not be on duty and not be doing what he was employed to do. Therefore, if such an employee is involved in an accident, it will not be an injury on duty.
Some employees work as drivers or some get transported as part of their work. Will these employees be covered by the provisions of COIDA?
- Section 22(5), of the COID Act specifies that “the conveyance (transportation) of an employee free of charge to or from his place of employment for the purposes of his employment by means of a vehicle driven by the employer himself or one of his employees and specially provided by his employer for the purpose of such conveyance (transportation), shall be deemed to take place in the course of such employee’s employment”.
- Employees who are drivers or who must be transported as part of their work could be covered by the provisions of COIDA if the accident occurred ‘‘in course and scope of employment’’ and provided that the following is in place.
The vehicle was provided by the employer.
The vehicle was provided free of charge.
The vehicle was provided for the purposes of employment.
The vehicle was driven by the employer himself or one of his employees. - Compensation would not be payable if an accident occurs with free transport which is provided by a contractor on behalf of the employer. This motor vehicle accidents could alternatively be covered by the Road Accident Fund Act.
Situations where people perform standby duty.
- If the standby employee is called out by the employer, it should be viewed as ‘‘in course and scope of duty’’. If the employee is involved in an accident while travelling to the workplace, it would be deemed to be an injury on duty.
- Even in cases where it would be expected from the standby employee to make use of private transport, it could still be deemed to be in course and scope of duty. The employee should however be able to prove that he travelled among the most economical route to work.
- Note that standby employees would be covered up to the point where they finish the task or job that they were called out to do.
- Travelling back home with private transport will normally not be covered by COIDA. If, the employee, makes use of an official company vehicle, provided for standby purposes, they will be covered while driving back to home.
The following questions are normally asked by the Compensation Commissioners office if an employee is involved in a motor accident and a claim is launched for compensation.
- Describe in detail how and where (street names etc.) the accident occurred.
- Include detailed statements by the driver of the vehicle and eyewitnesses to the accident, describing how and where (street names, etc.) the accident occurred, as well as a diagram and photos.
- Who is the registered owner of the vehicle?
- Name the place of departure and the destination of the vehicle at the time of the accident.
- Was the vehicle travelling on a direct route to its destination from its place of departure?
- What was the purpose of the journey?
- Was the vehicle specifically used for the purpose described in the above question? (For example, if the purpose of the journey was to deliver bread, was the vehicle assigned to the task of transporting bread?)
- What control did you exercise over the driver of the vehicle for determining the vehicle’s point and time of departure, destination and route, as well as being able to discontinue the transport at any time?
- Was transport supplied free of charge to employees to transport them to and from work?
- The registration number(s) of the vehicle(s) involved in the accident.
- To which South African Police Station was the accident reported and what was the reference number assigned to the case?
- The names and claim numbers of the other injured employees, if any.
- In whose employment was the driver of the vehicle?
If there is any doubt relating to an injury on duty, always complete and submit the forms to the Commissioner and let them decide. The COIDA works on the provision of “at the discretion of the Compensation Commissioner”.
In summary, ensure you have the following in place for staff using company vehicles, travel and transport of staff.
- Valid letter of Goodstanding with workman’s compensation. And that the employees know who has this document readily available in the event of an injury on duty.
- Up to date job descriptions for all your staff.
- Up to date staff disciplinary code of conduct. Each page signed by the employee.
- A valid risk assessment.
- Updated policies and procedures.
- Safe Working Procedures / Safe Operating Procedures.
- Checklists.
- Proof that staff have been trained and informed to all the above.
Travel safely!