When are you covered under the occupational injury insurance? - At work at the workplace during working hours

If you run a private errand during working hours, are you covered by occupational injury insurance if you are injured? What about injuries to and from the workplace?

Section 10 of the Occupational Injury Insurance Act deals with the coverage of occupational injuries and occupational diseases. It states that an injury or illness is covered under the occupational injury insurance if the injury or illness has occurred «in work at the workplace during working hours».

The term «at the place of work» means the place where the employee performs his or her work. A distinction is made here between stationary and travelling activities. In the case of stationary workplaces, the injury will be covered as long as the employees are within this area. In the case of travelling activities, such as electricians, carpenters and plumbers, they will be covered where the work is actually done. Boundary cases are accidents to and from work. As a general rule, these are not covered, but there are exceptions in cases where transport is organised by the employer.

The term «during working hours» means the time the employee works. The time span is defined as the period between the start and end of working hours. The term is not interpreted strictly and meal and rest breaks are also included in the wording of the provision.

In addition to these conditions, the incident must have occurred «at work». One would think that it would be sufficient for the incident to occur «during working hours at the workplace». The legislator has included this condition in order to limit the scope to injuries that occur in private errands that the employee carries out during working hours. Furthermore, it is limited to injuries that occur at the workplace that have nothing to do with the performance of the work.