Legal update on Cabinet Resolution No. 33 of 2022
The Cabinet Resolution No. 33 of 2022 was issued regarding work injuries and occupational diseases, and the decision specified what work injuries and occupational diseases are, and the procedures and conditions that employers must follow when work injuries or occupational diseases occur.
- The Resolution stipulated in Article (2) the types of occupational diseases and work injuries (total and partial) and identified them in three tables attached to this decision, which are:
Schedule No. (1) Occupational diseases.
Schedule No. (2) Estimated Permanent Total Disability Compensation.
Schedule No. (3) Estimated Permanent Partial Disability Compensation.
- The Resolution stipulated in Article (3) the procedures and conditions to be followed in the event of work injuries and occupational diseases, which the employer or his legal representative must perform, namely:
Inform the medical authority.
Inform the competent police station according to the geographical scope. The notification is made immediately when the worker is injured as a result of an accident or any injury other than an occupational disease.
Inform the Ministry through the channels designated for this within a maximum period of (48) forty-eight hours from the date of becoming aware of the suspicion of occupational disease or from the time of any other work injury, provided that the notification includes the worker’s name, age, profession, nationality, workplace, identity number, and a brief description of the accident or occupational disease and its circumstances and the measures taken to rescue and treat the worker.
- Article (4) of the Resolution stipulates the procedures for investigating work injuries and occupational diseases, in which it must be established whether the occurrence of the injury was related to work or not, and whether its occurrence was intentional or as a result of any of the following reasons:
a) If the injury was deliberate self-injury.
b) If the injury was a result of a direct consequence of the worker’s deliberate misconduct.
c) If the injury occurred under the influence of alcohol, drugs, or other psychotropic substances.
d) If the injury was a direct consequence of a deliberate violation of the precautionary instructions affixed in conspicuous places at the Workplace.
- The decision also stipulated in Article (5) the necessity of issuing a medical report prepared by the treating medical authority upon the completion of treatment for the injured worker or patient, in which the type of injury or occupational disease, its cause, the date of its occurrence, the extent of its connection with work, the duration of treatment of the worker from it, and the degree of disability - total or Partial - The extent to which the worker is able to continue working after that.
- Provided that the report is approved by the medical authority according to its regulations, and the approval is based on the recommendation of a specialized medical committee. A copy of the report is given to both the worker and the employer, and a copy of it is sent to the Ministry.
- Article (6) of the decision emphasized the necessity for the medical authorities in the country to provide the Ministry with data on work injuries and occupational diseases periodically through the approved electronic systems, and it must include all data related to the worker and the injury or disease he suffered, and the data referred to in ( Patient's national health file).
- Article (7) stipulates that the employer is obligated to compensate the worker for work injuries and occupational diseases in accordance with the attached tables, considering the following provisions:
Total incapacity to use any organ of the body or part thereof is considered equal to total loss of such organ or part of the body.
If the worker injured is left-handed the compensation hereinabove provided for the left hand shall be the same as for the right hand.
In the case of marring, disfigurement or unnatural alternation of any organ or part of the body or any sense not covered by the above schedule, the rate of disability shall be estimated, by the competent medical authority.
