Workplace injuries: what to do if an accident happens in the workplace

What is an occupational injury or occupational disease?

An occupational injury (arbejdsskade) is a collective term for occupational accidents and occupational diseases.

An occupational accident is a physical or psychological injury - which can be permanent or temporary - that occurs after an incident or impact in connection with your work. Examples of occupational accidents:

Finger destroyed in a machine
Permanent back injury due to heavy lifting at work

An occupational disease is an illness or disorder that is caused by the work or the conditions under which the work took place over a longer period. Examples of occupational diseases:

Hearing loss due to work-related noise
Reduced lung capacity (e.g. COPD) due to work-related air pollution.

Can a psychological injury be an occupational injury?

Yes, a psychological injury can be recognized as an occupational injury.

A psychological injury can have a physical cause such as violence or accidents. It can also have a psychological cause, for example wrongful accusations, harassment or bullying.

It is crucial that the psychological symptoms require treatment if they are to be recognized as an occupational injury.

How do you report an occupational injury?

It is important that your illness or injury is reported correctly, so that you can receive compensation for treatment costs, permanent disability and lost ability to work.

Work-related injuries must always be reported, even if you do not expect them to cause lasting harm. If a less serious injury later turns out to be more serious than first thought, it is crucial that you have reported it in the first place.

If an accident happens at work, it is your employer's duty to report the case, regardless of whether you are able to work following the incident or not. Your employer's insurance must assess whether they can process the damage case themselves, or whether it must be sent to Arbejdsmarkedets Erhvervssikring (AES).

If your occupational injury is the result of an occupational accident, it is your employer's insurance company that pays the compensation to your NemKonto. If you have had an accident at work while employed by the state, Arbejdsmarkedets Erhvervssikring (AES) pays your compensation.

If your manager does not want to report the injury, you can report it yourself to Arbejdsmarkedets Erhvervssikring via virk.dk.

Report a work accident at virk.dk

In the case of occupational diseases, your doctor or dentist must report the case. Therefore, you must make an appointment with your doctor if you experience signs of illness as a consequence of your work.

In the unlikely event that your doctor does not want to report the illness, you can do so yourself directly at AES.

If your work injury is an occupational disease, Arbejdsmarkedets Erhvervssikring (AES) will pay out your compensation.

Report an occupational disease yourself at AES.dk

Read about the process of occupational disease cases at borger.dk

When are you entitled to compensation for work injuries?

You can get compensation if Arbejdsmarkedets Erhvervssikring (AES) assesses that you are entitled to it.

You must be able to document or prove that there is a causal link between your working conditions and the injury or illness before you can be awarded compensation.

If an accident or occupational disease is to be recognised, there are several conditions that must be met. The two main ones are:

The injury must have occurred while you were working for an employer based in Denmark
The injury must have occurred because of your work or the conditions under which the work takes place.

How quickly do you receive compensation for work injuries?

There is no general rule of thumb for how long it takes from the time you have applied for compensation for a work injury until your compensation is paid out.

But before you can get your compensation, the damage must be stable. This means that it no longer develops and that you have been treated in the healthcare system.

In many cases, this can take a long time, and in the meantime the decision on compensation is postponed.

Read about the different forms of compensation at AES.dk

Can you complain if you are not successful in your occupational injury claim?

If your compensation case has been rejected, you can file a complaint about the decision. This must be done no later than four weeks after you have received the decision. The complaint must be sent to Arbejdsmarkedets Erhvervssikring (AES) on their digital complaint form. The complaint is then sent to the Danish Appeals Board, which will process your complaint.

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