Accident at work: what must the employer do and what rights does the injured employee have?

Who this applies to

• Employees who have had an accident in connection with work, and family members of an employee who died as a result of an accident.
• Employers who must establish the circumstances and causes of the accident.

An event is an accident at work if it occurred in connection with work (Article 3(1) of the Accident Insurance Act):

• during or in connection with performing ordinary activities or instructions of superiors,
• during or in connection with performing activities for the employer, even without an instruction,
• while at the employer's disposal on the way between the employer's premises and the place where a duty is performed.

An accident during a business trip, among others, is treated in the same way as an accident at work (Article 3(2)). People on a contract of mandate (umowa zlecenia) and people running a business are covered by separate rules (Article 3(3)), and the circumstances are then usually established in an accident card, not in a report.

The Act distinguishes the following accidents:

• fatal: death occurred within 6 months of the day of the accident,
• serious: e.g. loss of sight, hearing or speech, an incurable or life-threatening illness, total or partial incapacity to work in one's occupation,
• collective: at least 2 people were harmed in the same event (Article 3(4)-(6)).

What to do

1. Report the accident to your superior. The employee, if their state of health allows, should inform their superior without delay (§ 2 of the 2009 regulation). Make sure you have medical records from the first visit.
2. The employer acts at once. It must eliminate or reduce the hazard, provide first aid and establish the circumstances and causes of the accident (Article 234 § 1 of the Labour Code (Kodeks pracy)). Until the findings are made, it secures the accident site: it does not let in outsiders, does not start stopped machines and does not move objects (§ 3 of the regulation). The exception is rescuing people or property.
3. Appointment of the accident investigation team. The team includes a health and safety (BHP) service employee and a social labour inspector (społeczny inspektor pracy) (§ 4). If the employer has no such people, their place is taken by: the employer, an employee entrusted with health and safety tasks or an external specialist, and an employee representative with up-to-date health and safety training (§ 5). In a very small business, the team may consist of the employer and an external specialist (§ 6).
4. The team's findings. The team inspects the accident site, hears the injured person and witnesses, obtains a doctor's opinion and classifies the event in accordance with Article 3 of the Accident Insurance Act (§ 7).
5. Report within 14 days. The accident report is drawn up no later than 14 days after notification of the accident is received. A later date is possible only for justified reasons, which must be entered in the report (§ 9).
6. Reviewing the report. Before approval, the team must show you the report and inform you of your right to submit comments and objections. You have the right to inspect the files, make notes, extracts and copies (§ 11). Comments and objections become part of the report (§ 12(2)).
7. Approval within 5 days. The employer approves the report no later than 5 days after it is drawn up (§ 13(1)). If you have raised objections, the employer returns the report to the team for clarification, and the team has 5 days to draw up a new report (§ 13(2)-(3)). The employer delivers the approved report to you without delay (§ 14(1)).
8. Notifying the OIP and the prosecutor. The employer notifies the District Labour Inspector and the public prosecutor without delay of a fatal, serious or collective accident (Article 234 § 2 of the Labour Code). It delivers the report on such an accident to the labour inspector (§ 14(2)). Some inspectorates have separate numbers solely for reporting accidents, e.g. the District Labour Inspectorate (OIP) in Zielona Góra. You will find the details on the inspectorates page.
9. ZUS benefits. The report is the basic document for an application for benefits from accident insurance. ZUS (Social Insurance Institution) refuses benefits, among other cases, when no report was presented or when the report did not recognise the event as an accident at work (Article 22(1) of the Accident Insurance Act). You will find details and application forms on zus.pl.

When the employer does not draw up a report

1. Ask the employer in writing to appoint a team and draw up a report. Keep a copy.
2. File a complaint with the District Labour Inspectorate. The National Labour Inspectorate (Państwowa Inspekcja Pracy, PIP) examines the circumstances and causes of accidents at work (Article 10(1)(7)(a) of the Act on the National Labour Inspectorate). The inspector may order the employer to establish, within a specified time, the circumstances and causes of the accident (Article 11(1)(6)). You can prepare the complaint in the generator, and the rules are described in the guide How do you file a complaint to the National Labour Inspectorate?
3. If you disagree with the approved report or ZUS refuses benefits, consult a lawyer. How to establish who handles such a dispute is described in the guide PIP, ZUS or labour court: who should you turn to with a problem at work?

Exceptions and caveats

• Employer liability. Petty offences include, among others, failure to notify the OIP, the public prosecutor or another authority of a fatal, serious or collective accident, concealing an accident at work, and presenting false information, evidence or documents about an accident (Article 283 § 2(6) of the Labour Code). The fine is from PLN 2,000 to PLN 60,000.
• When there are no benefits. Accident insurance benefits are not payable when the sole cause of the accident was a proven breach of the rules on protection of life and health, caused by the injured person intentionally or through gross negligence. Nor are they payable to a person who, while intoxicated or under the influence of narcotic substances, contributed significantly to the accident (Article 21 of the Accident Insurance Act). Such a finding in the report requires a detailed justification and an indication of evidence (§ 12(1) of the regulation).
• An accident on the premises of another establishment. The circumstances are established by a team appointed by your employer, in the presence of a representative of the owner of the premises (§ 8 of the regulation).
• Types of benefits. The Accident Insurance Act provides for, among others, sickness benefit, rehabilitation benefit, compensatory allowance, one-off compensation, a disability pension for incapacity to work, a training pension and a survivor's pension (Article 6(1)). We do not give amounts and conditions, because they depend on many factors. Check them on zus.pl.
• Personal belongings. Compensation for the loss of or damage to personal items and items needed for work in an accident is paid by the employer. The exceptions are motor vehicles and cash and valuables (Article 237(1) § 2 of the Labour Code).
• Changes to the law. The Accident Insurance Act is amended by the Act of 18.12.2025 (Dz.U. 2026 item 26), in part from 1.01.2027. We do not discuss this amendment.
• When to see a lawyer. When the report does not recognise the event as an accident at work, when it attributes gross negligence or intoxication to you, when the accident was serious, or when you are considering claims against the employer beyond ZUS benefits.

Example

Assumptions: a warehouse employee slipped on spilt oil while carrying goods on the manager's instructions and broke his arm. The employer has a dozen or so employees and has no health and safety service or social labour inspector. The event is not a serious accident.

1. The employee informs the manager at once, and the employer provides first aid and secures the site.
2. The employer appoints a team: the person to whom it has entrusted health and safety tasks (or an external specialist) and an employee representative with up-to-date health and safety training.
3. The team questions the injured person and the witnesses, inspects the site and draws up a report within 14 days of notification.
4. Before approval, the employee reads the report and raises an objection that the oil had been spilt the day before and no one had removed it.
5. The employer returns the report to the team, which draws up a new one within 5 days. The approved report is delivered to the employee, who attaches it to his benefit application.

Documents and deadlines

Frequently asked questions

Do I have to sign a report I disagree with?

You have the right to submit comments and objections, and the team must inform you of this. The objections are part of the report, and the employer cannot approve it without clarification; it returns the report to the team.

Who pays for establishing the circumstances of the accident?

The costs are borne by the employer (Article 234 § 4 of the Labour Code).

Does the employer have to report every accident to the PIP?

The obligation to notify the OIP and the public prosecutor concerns fatal, serious and collective accidents and other accidents with such effects which may be recognised as accidents at work (Article 234 § 2 of the Labour Code). The employer enters every accident in the register of accidents at work (Article 234 § 3 of the Labour Code).

Useful tools

• PIP complaint generator

Related guides

• How do you file a complaint to the National Labour Inspectorate?
• PIP, ZUS or labour court: who should you turn to with a problem at work?
• Employee medical checks and health and safety training: which are mandatory, who pays and when do they take place?
• PIP inspection: whom it concerns, what the inspector can check and how it works

Sources (documents in Polish)

• Ustawa z 30.10.2002 o ubezpieczeniu społecznym z tytułu wypadków przy pracy i chorób zawodowych, tekst jednolity Dz.U. 2025 poz. 1644 (art. 3, 6, 21, 22)
• Kodeks pracy, tekst jednolity Dz.U. 2026 poz. 1245 (art. 234, 237(1), 283)
• Rozporządzenie RM z 1.07.2009 w sprawie ustalania okoliczności i przyczyn wypadków przy pracy (Dz.U. 2009 nr 105 poz. 870)
• Ustawa o PIP, tekst ujednolicony ISAP (art. 10 ust. 1 pkt 7, art. 11 ust. 1 pkt 6)
• ZUS, rodzaje świadczeń z tytułu wypadków przy pracy i chorób zawodowych
• OIP w Zielonej Górze, dane adresowe (numery do zgłaszania wypadków)
• PIP, Jak złożyć skargę

Sources checked on 15 October 2026. Law as at 15 October 2026.

Change history

• 15 October 2026: First publication.