The topic in the title is a much longer explanation and covers many more tasks and topics, and probably deserves a multi-volume description. I do not claim to be complete, but I would definitely like to highlight the importance of a kind of management approach that serves the interests of both the employer and the employees.

This view (at least in my opinion) is the view of the "Caring leader", who is a good farmer, a good family head, etc. he directs and leads his "team" with his attention.

What am I thinking? I will illustrate with the development of a measure following a case of sickness at work.

It happened nowadays.

The incident took place during a healthcare education organized at the workplace. One employee became ill during the presentation and fell from his chair as he fainted. On the head approx. there was a bleeding wound the size of a palm. 

Based on what was said, at the time of the incident - with the exception of the presenter - you could almost feel the blocking of the people (they looked around in disbelief, no one really moved to intervene, the inactivity fell between about 30 seconds and a minute)

The injured person was treated with the equipment in the medical box kept ready at the workplace and an ambulance was called. The arriving ambulance unit transported the injured person to the relevant hospital for further examination.  

After the above events, the incident with the colleague preoccupied those present for days, and the workplace leader was not left to rest either.

Following the incident, the manager took care of the following following the usual protocol:

- clarified with the occupational health and safety representative that, based on the information collected (the employee has blood pressure problems and is taking medication for it; the sickness occurred after the 40th minute of the performance), the fainting and injury caused by the sickness is not considered an accident, and therefore not a work accident, the According to the following:

            "Accident: a one-time external impact on the human body that occurs suddenly or in a relatively short period of time, regardless of the will of the injured party, and causes injury, poisoning or other (physical, mental) health damage, or death."

The worker's illness did not occur suddenly or in a short period of time (the session had been going on for at least 40 minutes), so it was not considered an accident and, consequently, not an occupational accident.

Comment: Of course, it is a matter of debate what the suddenly or what it is in the light of the case relatively short time. We would get a different time interval for everyone if we had to determine the extent/magnitude of each person, and this also depends on many components, e.g.:

            – was the person able to rest/sleep well the night before the workday

            - what kind of clothes you wear (comfortable clothes that are not too hot or too cold, maybe a tight waist belt, other clothes, new shoes that haven't been "broken in" yet, etc.) 

            - how suitable the location is for the person (too hot, too cold, drafty, light conditions, comfort of the seat, etc.)

            – psychosomatic pressure (the topic of the training itself may be disturbing/how disturbing it is; the situation of personal life problems at the time; etc.)

            – physical condition (e.g.: still getting stronger after illness/cold, etc.)

The examples listed above only serve to illustrate how many variables there are in a given situation, the time course of a person's reaction, when it reaches the threshold that an accident is almost inevitable.

he informed his superior manager

- notified the employee's next of kin (this happened immediately after the illness)

- recorded the incident in the work accident log (recorded in a note that the incident is not currently treated as a work accident)

- reorganized the working time schedule in order to continue working without interruption

- informed the relevant staff about what happened

– etc.

If we look at what happened in a simplified way, the leader's actions may even be over, but in fact not yet.

The ill health of the injured employee should not be ignored. It is advisable to involve an occupational health doctor in order to clarify the case (whether any restrictions are necessary during the qualification of the occupational medical fitness test). It is necessary to clarify whether this should be treated as a one-time case, or whether it was an important signal to the body, with which something should be done (examine, adjust the dose of medicine, replace the existing medicine, etc.).

It has happened several times that in a similar case, the patient is discharged from the hospital (cured according to the paper, since he was symptom-free during the observation period), but the cause of the illness is not actually determined, and the root cause cannot be discovered with absolute certainty.

The manager acts correctly if, when organizing the working hours, he employs the employee and orders him to perform the tasks in compliance with the following criteria:

– In order for the employee to work safely, until his health condition is resolved (he does not receive treatment/medication that excludes his repeated illness), he will not be assigned to work alone during the work organization. Asking for the help of the occupational health doctor, he "obliges" the worker to have the tests performed.

– As far as possible, working hours that are different from the usual life cycle should be avoided (e.g. night shift).

- Your work breaks must be provided at intervals of shorter working hours.

It is advisable to take the above measures so that if something like this happens to the employee again, help is available as soon as possible, and everyone (employee - employer - direct manager - family members) does not find themselves in an unpleasant situation.

As a final word.

The case was a thought provoking for me about one more thing.

The role of the occupational health doctor is significant in determining the employee's medical fitness during a job fitness test.

And my personal experience says that unfortunately it usually doesn't work well, and on paper everything is fine, but essential priorities are left out, e.g.: contacting the employee's family doctor; perusing the database of the hospital responsible for the place of residence in order to map the medical background of the employee.

Actually, the doctor relies on the employee's statement, although they typically perform a basic health assessment (weight/height measurement, blood pressure measurement, lung screening, vision test, etc.).

Author: József Szendrődi