Commuting accidents

In many economic systems, the idea of workers' compensation insurance first caught on with the advent of industrialisation.

Initially, it was geared exclusively to compensating the damage to life and limb that employees might suffer in their place of work. This exclusive character has changed over time, however. In about two-thirds of all legal systems worldwide, accidents on the way to or from work (so-called "commuting accidents") are also included in the scope of cover of workers' compensation insurance.

In most cases, it is the state monopoly systems that grant this extended cover. However, private systems like the ones found in Belgium, Finland, and Portugal also cover commuting accidents to varying extents.

At the same time, in most legal systems discussions are taking place as to whether it makes sense to include commuting accidents within the scope of cover of workers' compensation insurance. Particularly where fringe benefits are becoming the focal point of the political discussion, the question of appropriate distribution of the burden arises.

Essentially, it is a matter of whether employers alone should have to assume the risk and cost of any accidents their employees may suffer on the way to their places of work.

Alternative ways of financing the cost of commuting accidents

The most-requested alternative in this respect is equal apportionment between employers and employees, instead of the employer financing that is usual in most cases.

Another issue that repeatedly crops up is whether the costs incurred as a result of commuting accidents ought not to be borne by statutory health and pension insurance, motor liability insurance or private personal accident insurance.

It is amazing that almost two-thirds of countries worldwide include commuting accidents in the scope of cover of workers' compensation insurance. For accidents on the way to and from work essentially have nothing to do with the entrepreneurial liability for which workers' compensation insurances were created.

Employers' liability for accidents on the way to work is at best conceivable where they have provided their employees with a means of transport. But in these cases, what is involved is usually company travel, i.e. it is already part of the insured activity and no longer to be regarded as the way to work.

With commuting accidents, the relation to an individual firm can only really be acknowledged where the route covered is particularly hazardous, for example to an oil rig.

Apart from such special cases, the only relation that the way to the place of work bears to the professional activity is that it is a prerequisite for reaching the workplace. Whether this general relation is sufficient to saddle just the employer with the commuting accidents risk is questionable. However, this is what most systems do in practice.

Prevention of occupational accidents

Preventing occupational accidents is the key goal of workers' compensation insurers in all systems. Many countries therefore take account of a company's individual claims experience in their rating and also grant discounts for preventive measures. However, this can only apply to a limited extent for commuting accidents.

Employers have hardly any possibilities for influencing accidents, as road traffic constitutes an area of risk that is regulated by the public authorities. It therefore makes little sense to link the payment of indemnity for commuting accidents to preventive measures.

Against this background, it is understandable that some countries are endeavouring to achieve more appropriate distribution of the risk. In Italy, for example, employees are covered by workers' compensation insurance only if they use public transport.

If they decide to go to work by motorbike or in their car, they do so at their own risk. There are, of course, exceptions where there is no public transport available or employees cannot reasonably be expected to use it.

Another balance of interests would be for the commuting risk to be financed by the employer and the employee on a 50—50 basis. In individual cases, however, the administrative expense involved could preclude this.

Each country must decide individually on the nature and scope of cover, depending on the relevant social security and liability systems. It should, however, be borne in mind that where workers' compensation insurance covers the commuting risk, it makes employers liable for a risk that bears only a slight relation to their enterprise and the risks arising from its operation, and which it is not possible to prevent at the level of the individual enterprise.