Reporting a work accident

The employees must inform the employer immediately of:

  • any work accident
  • any incident that would almost have led to an accident
  • any serious and immediate risk to safety and health that they discover
  • any defect discovered in protection systems.

The employer must, in turn, immediately report any work accident that leads to a fatality or serious injury to the Labour Inspectorate, if it has not been reported to the emergency services.

Independent of this, every work accident in which a person with accident insurance has been killed, or injured in such a way that they are unable to work for three days, in full or in part, must be reported to the responsible accident insurance provider within five days.

As a self-employed person, please ensure that you not only report accidents involving people you employ but also those that involve you to the accident insurance provider in good time.

Students and schoolchildren should report accidents to the competent directorate. Schools, educational facilities and universities are obliged to report every work accident through which a person with accident insurance is physically injured or killed within a maximum of five days to the responsible accident insurance provider in triplicate.

In the case of private insurance, the insured party must report an accident in writing immediately in line with the conditions and to avoid the provider from being released from the obligation to perform. If there are fatalities, this must be reported within three days, even if the accident has already been reported.

Forms for reporting an accident are available from the respective insurance provider.

Further links

Legal basis

section 363 paragraph 1 and 4 of the Allgemeines Sozialversicherungsgesetz (ASVG)

Translated by the European Commission
Last update: 23 March 2023
Responsible for the content:
  • Federal Ministry of Social Affairs, Health, Care and Consumer Protection
  • Association of Austrian Social Insurance Institutions

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