One of the most common comments during scheduled and unscheduled inspections of the State Inspectorate is the violation of the deadline for investigating an accident. To clearly determine for yourself what deadlines you need to meet and not break the law, read our article. In this article, we will take a closer look at what deadline is established for each category of accident, and also tell you how to properly extend the commission’s work period.
Useful materials:
Sample notice of extension of the accident investigation period
Sample order to re-extend the period for investigating an accident
What to do if an accident occurs at the end of the working day or on weekends
The employer’s duty under the National Assembly is to create an investigation commission by order and ensure its work: provide vehicles, premises, copying equipment, communications equipment, at the expense of the employer.
The investigation period for NS is 3 calendar days for mild NS, and 15 calendar days for severe cases. In order to conduct an investigation in such a short period of time, the employer, immediately after receiving information about the injury, creates an investigation commission, which begins to investigate the accident on the same day.
The Labor Code states - immediately. This means at least on the same day as the incident.
Therefore, if the injury occurred on Friday evening, an hour before the end of the working day, the employer, represented by the head of the organization, must appoint an investigation commission that same evening. Note! Each member of the commission appointed by order must be aware that an accident is an exceptional situation, it is an emergency for the enterprise, and a force majeure circumstance.
Therefore, if your family situation does not allow you to work overtime or on weekends, it is better to refuse to participate in the work of the investigation commission. Some employers, during proceedings regarding violations of the investigation deadlines, argue that they began to investigate what happened on the evening of Friday or Saturday NS on Monday morning, since the members of the commission should rest.
But this is unacceptable. The investigation is carried out both in the interests of the victim and in the interests of the employer. Over the weekend, the scene of the incident may change, and the interview of eyewitnesses will no longer be as accurate. Therefore, provide additional pay or a day off for overtime work. The procedure for paying overtime hours is established in Articles 99 and 149 of the Labor Code of the Russian Federation.
How long does it take to investigate a minor accident?
The commission must investigate a minor accident within three calendar days . The period is calculated from the moment when the employer issued an order to create a commission to investigate the accident.
After investigating a minor accident, an investigation report is drawn up in Form 4. Accidents qualified as industrial accidents are drawn up in a Form H-1 report. The commission draws up the act in two copies in Russian or in Russian and the state language of the subject of the Russian Federation.
If the accident is insured, the employer approves an additional copy of the act, Form N-1. The employer, within three days after completion of the investigation, issues one copy of the stamped act of Form N-1 to the victim.
Thus, if the commission was created by order on Thursday, then the investigation must be completed on Saturday, and the report form N-1 must be issued to the victim no later than Tuesday.
An example of the correct organization of an investigation in mild NS:
An emergency situation occurred in the organization. On the first day, the commission created by order of the employer notified the FSS about the accident and received a notification in form No. 315 from the medical institution where the victim received medical care.
Also on the same day, members of the commission inspected the scene of the incident. The protocol for interviewing eyewitnesses was carried out the next day, but in relation to those NS eyewitnesses who are on duty, they did this on the day of the incident, so as not to contact them on their day off.
On the second day, they asked for explanations from the victim, as well as the work manager and the rest of the team members (shift workers).
On the third day, an investigation report was drawn up in Form 4, as well as an N-1 report. After approval of the N-1 act, it was certified with a seal and handed over to the victim for signature.
Investigation Rules
According to the current classification, industrial accidents are divided into the following two categories:
- lungs;
- heavy.
Whatever happens at the enterprise, if this event fits into the concept of “accident,” it must be investigated in accordance with the procedure established by law. This is about:
- various traumatic injuries;
- thermal, chemical burns;
- frostbite and other health hazards.
The law regulates these incidents and stipulates many important nuances
The investigation itself involves performing a list of the following actions within a certain time frame.
Step #1. First of all, it is necessary to inspect the place where the trouble we are interested in occurred. In addition to independent inspection, the person entrusted with the work presented is obliged to record everything he saw using devices that:
- photography;
- video recording
These digital documents will then become arguments in proceedings
Step #2. It is also necessary to interview citizens - event employees who unwittingly witnessed the industrial incident of interest to you. Questions must be asked dryly and to the point, referring only to events that:
- occurred when the employee was injured;
- led to an accident.
Step #3. Separately, it is necessary to conduct a survey not only of ordinary workers and witnesses to the incident, but also of persons occupying certain leadership positions. The fact is that it is their explanations regarding various aspects of the situation (for example, problems with equipment) that can have an important impact on the further course of the investigation and determining the true causes of what happened.
Step #4. Another task of officials, in addition to the task of finding objective information about what happened, is to familiarize themselves with the documents that are stored in the organization that is the employer. The required papers must be related to the incident and at least partially explain the reasons for what happened. We are talking in particular about how safe working conditions are regulated, which must be ensured by law in production.
Step #5. The last step is to obtain an explanation from the employee who is recognized as a victim. He must describe how and when the emergency occurred, what he believes was involved, and what injuries he sustained.
Video - Industrial accidents subject to investigation and recording
How long does it take to investigate a serious accident?
Any serious accident - group, fatal, with a serious outcome - must be investigated by the commission within 15 calendar days . The commission, as with light NS, is created on the day the employer receives information about NS. This is indicated in Part 1, 3 of Art. 229 Labor Code of the Russian Federation.
At the same time, the number of state and trade union bodies is much wider than with mild NS. Therefore, the commission of inquiry needs to distribute its responsibilities. This applies to commission members appointed from among the employees of the enterprise where the accident occurred.
Advice! The commission consists of a large odd number of participants. If a member of the commission is, for example, a representative of the Social Insurance Fund, or the district administration, or the territorial association of the trade union, then a survey of eyewitnesses and an inspection of the scene of the incident must be carried out in their presence. If the invited committee member is unable to participate, the inspection and survey can be carried out without their presence.
An example of the distribution of responsibilities of commission members - employees of the employer's enterprise
| Duty | Job title | Function |
| Commission member 1 | OT Specialist | Notifies government agencies about the NS: · GIT; · prosecutor at the scene of the incident; · administration at the scene of the incident; · if a hazardous production facility – then the Territorial Department of Rostechnadzor; · FSS at the place of registration of the legal entity or individual entrepreneur; · territorial committee of the trade union. |
| Commission member 2 | HR specialist | Receives notification in form No. 315-U at the hospital |
| Commission member 3 | Chief Engineer | Together with representatives of the State Inspectorate and the Social Insurance Fund, he goes to the scene of the incident for video and photographic recording. |
Documentation, sending notifications
The time frame for conducting an investigation into an industrial accident is strictly regulated. Therefore, the procedure is accompanied by the study and collection of documents.
Procedure for investigating industrial accidents
If necessary, specialists are involved who conduct a special examination (laboratory, technical, etc.). Group work can include photography and videography that will accurately capture the scene of the incident.
A set of materials must be collected, which includes an order to appoint a commission, a protocol on the inspection of the scene of the event, and documents that characterize the state of the workplace.
Important! If there were harmful factors and hazardous substances at work, this is also documented. It is not so easy to investigate all the details of an incident, so specialists check the safety training logs - they should be kept in the custody of an occupational safety specialist.
Interviews with eyewitnesses must be recorded in writing. A medical report is also added, which indicates not only the degree of damage, but also the condition of the victim. This is especially important if he was under the influence of drugs or alcohol.
The organization is obliged to provide personal protective equipment - this must also be recorded in special documents
What is the investigation period for hidden inconveniences and cases that the employer did not immediately learn about?
Concealing an accident is an offense on the part of the employer. The investigation of such NS is carried out by the state labor inspector alone. The investigation period for such an investigation is 1 month .
Even rarer is a situation where an employee suffered a minor injury, but reported it to his employer much later. For example, he can bring a sick leave with the code “ injury at work ,” and the employer did not even know that an accident had happened to the employee, since everyone, including the personnel officer, thought that the employee was simply ill.
Since the employee did not report that he was injured, and there were no eyewitnesses, the employer could not have guessed that an accident had occurred. This employee was obliged to inform his immediate supervisor about the incident. Since the accident was minor and not fatal, he was able to do this (Article 21 of the Labor Code of the Russian Federation).
Therefore, the employee must write a statement for investigation on the day he brought the sick leave. This follows from Article 229.1 of the Labor Code of the Russian Federation. It must be investigated by the employer's commission within 1 month from the date of receipt of the application from the victim. - regardless of the severity of the NS. Otherwise, the investigation procedure does not differ from the usual one.
What accidents are subject to investigation and recording?
Labor law norms establish the obligation of the administration of a business entity to conduct investigations of all incidents that arose with workers under an employment contract, as well as with persons involved in economic activities in the process of fulfilling their duties in the performance of labor functions or instructions from the company’s management.
In this case, other persons participating in the production are understood to be citizens working under an apprenticeship contract or undergoing internship. This category also includes persons with whom civil contracts have been concluded, if the customer’s responsibilities include the obligation to implement social insurance in relation to them.
The employer conducts an investigation:
- When bodily injury is caused to an employee, including when it was inflicted by another employee.
- If you receive burns.
- When frostbite occurs.
- When a person suffers heatstroke.
- When receiving an electric shock, lightning, radiation, etc.
- For bites and other damage caused by insects and animals.
- When drowning.
- In case of accidents, explosions, destruction of buildings and structures caused by emergencies and natural disasters.
- Other injuries to the employee, as a result of which he needs to be transferred to light work due to temporary or permanent disability.
Investigations should be carried out if accidents occur:
- During the working day when performing duties on the territory of the company, and in other places on behalf of the employer. This includes breaks, as well as periods of preparation for the start and end of work, periods outside the working day, including work on holidays and weekends.
- During the time when the employee was traveling to or from work home. It doesn't matter whether it was on company transport or his personal transport.
- During the time when a company employee traveled to the destination to perform duties on a business trip, and back.
- While driving a vehicle as a shift driver during the inter-shift break.
- When work is carried out on a shift basis, during the period of rest between shifts, if the employee is on the ship in his free time.
- When performing at other times lawful actions due to job functions or in the interests of management. This also includes periods when the employee prevented the occurrence of emergency situations.
Attention! As a result of the investigation, it may be established that the NS is not related to the production. That is, the injury, mutilation or death of the victim occurred for reasons unrelated to the enterprise.
In any case, it is necessary, in accordance with the rules of law, to take into account the following circumstances in order to recognize the NS as production:
- Is the person whose injuries were recorded a participant in production processes at the enterprise?
- Is the incident included in the list of accidents at work?
- Do the circumstances of the incident fall into the list established by Art. 227 Labor Code of the Russian Federation.
- The injured person is insured in the compulsory social insurance system.
- Are there circumstances that allow the case to be classified as non-industrial accident?
How to legally extend the period of investigation of an accident
To conduct additional verification of the circumstances of the accident, the chairman of the commission may extend the investigation period, but not more than by 15 days . In this case, the victim or his authorized representative must be notified of this decision.
It happens that even after the investigation period has been extended, the commission is again unable to complete its work. In this case, the extension of the investigation period is different: it is necessary to obtain approval from the organization through whose fault the necessary information was not provided.
Features of extending the period for consideration of a case
Storage period for accident investigation materials
Handling such cases is a difficult task. The commission needs to establish all the details of the incident and make a decision. They have to study a large number of documents and conduct examinations.
In such a matter, haste is unacceptable, so specialists need to be careful
The period for investigating an accident at the request of an injured employee is only one month. But even this time may not be enough to identify all the details of what happened.
In this case, the employer may receive an additional 15 calendar days, but he must justify such a decision.
Important! The final word remains with the chairman of the commission.
Examinations can also take a long time to carry out, and in this case, postponing the deadline is considered acceptable. If there is cooperation with the bodies of inquiry and the court, then their consent to increase the duration of the investigation is required.
In the event of a fatality at work, the investigation can take a long time. But even in this case, an extension can only be given once for 15 calendar days.
