Medical error in work permit constitutes external cause of workplace accident under Polish law.
Poland (PL)
Legislator summary
AI generatedThe Supreme Court reversed the lower courts' dismissal, ruling that a workplace accident occurred when a worker died from a heart attack after being allowed to work underground based on a medically erroneous certificate. The court held that the employer's reliance on an objectively flawed medical assessment, which failed to recognize absolute contraindications for underground work, created an external cause for the accident. Consequently, the employer was ordered to pay the worker's widow compensation for a workplace injury.
Legislator headnote
AI generatedArt. 6 ust. 1 ustawy o świadczeniach z tytułu wypadków przy pracy i chorób zawodowych; An objectively erroneous medical certificate permitting a worker with absolute contraindications to work constitutes an external cause of a workplace accident, even without employer fault.