No. 41/1935:

WORKMEN'S COMPENSATION ACT, 1934 (NOTICE OF ACCIDENT AND DISEASES) ORDER, 1935.

WORKMEN'S COMPENSATION ACT, 1934 (NOTICE OF ACCIDENT AND DISEASES) ORDER, 1935.

WORKMEN'S COMPENSATION ACT, 1934 (NOTICE OF ACCIDENT AND DISEASES) ORDER, 1935, MADE BY THE MINISTER FOR INDUSTRY AND COMMERCE PURSUANT TO SECTION 11 of THE WORKMEN'S COMPENSATION ACT, 1934 (No. 9 of 1934).

WHEREAS it is enacted by Section 11 of the Workmen's Compensation Act, 1934 , that the Minister for Industry and Commerce may by order make regulations in respect of any matter or thing which is referred to in the said Act as prescribed or to be prescribed.

AND WHEREAS it is enacted by Section 29 of the said Act that there shall be kept constantly posted up in some conspicuous place at or near every mine, quarry, factory or workshop where it may be conveniently read by the persons employed therein, a summary in the prescribed form of the provisions of this Act with regard to a notice of accident and the procedure to be followed in the case of industrial diseases.

NOW THEREFORE, the Minister for Industry and Commerce, in exercise of the power conferred on him by Section 11 of the Workmen's Compensation Act, 1934 , and of every and any other power him in this behalf enabling, makes the following Order, that is to say :

1. This Order may be cited for all purposes as the Workmen's Compensation Act, 1934 (Notice of Accident and Diseases) Order, 1935.

2. The Interpretation Act, 1923 (No. 46 of 1923), applies to the interpretation of this Order in like manner as it applies to the interpretation of an Act of the Oireachtas.

3. In this Order the expression " the Act " means the Workmen's Compensation Act, 1934 .

4. The following regulations shall have effect for the purposes of Section 29 of the Act. The summary of the provisions of the Act with regard to the giving of notice of accidents and the making of claims and the procedure to be followed in the case of industrial diseases which is required, in pursuance of Section 29 of the Act, to be kept constantly posted up in some conspicuous place, where it may be conveniently read, at or near every mine, quarry, factory or workshop (or other works or premises to which any of the provisions of the Factory and Workshop Acts apply) shall be in the appropriate one of the Forms A and B annexed to this Order.

5. This Order shall come into operation on the 28th day of February, 1935.

Given under the Official Seal of the Minister for Industry and Commerce this fifteenth day of February, in the year One Thousand Nine Hundred and Thirty-five.

(Signed) R. C. FERGUSON,

Assistant Secretary,

Department of Industry and Commerce.

SCHEDULE.

WORKMEN'S COMPENSATION ACT, 1934 (NOTICE OF ACCIDENT AND DISEASES) ORDER, 1935.

FORMS OF SUMMARY PRESCRIBED UNDER SECTION 29 OF THE ACT.

FORM A.

August, 1934.

MINES, QUARRIES, FACTORIES AND WORKSHOPS.

WORKMEN'S COMPENSATION ACT, 1934 .

SUMMARY.

As prescribed by the Minister for Industry and Commerce of the provisions of the Workmen's Compensation Act, 1934 (Sections 28, 29, 30, 76 and 77), with regard to the giving of notice of accidents and the procedure to be followed in cases of industrial disease.

A copy of this Summary is required by Statute to be kept constantly posted up in some conspicuous place where it may conveniently be read by the persons employed, at or near every mine, quarry, factory, workshop or other works or premises to which any of the provisions of the Factory and Workshop Acts apply.

PLACE WHERE ACCIDENT BOOK IS KEPT (see paragraph 4 below).

NOTICE OF ACCIDENT.

1. The injured workman must, in order to obtain compensation under the Act, give notice of the accident to his employer as soon as practicable after its occurrence and before he has voluntarily left the employment.

2. The notice of the accident must be given in writing to the employer or to any foreman or other official (which will include as regards mines under Coal Mines Act a fireman, examiner or deputy) under whose supervision the workman is employed or to any person designated for the purpose by the employer.

3. The notice must give the name and address of the person injured and should state in ordinary language the cause of the injury and the date on which the accident happened.

4. For the purpose of facilitating the giving of notices of accidents the employer is required to keep on the premises at a place where it will be readily accessible at all reasonable times to any injured workman or person bona-fide acting on his behalf, an Accident Book in the prescribed form in which particulars of accidents may be entered, and if the particulars of an accident are duly entered in this book as soon as practicable after the accident, the entry will be accepted as sufficient notice to the employer. The entry may be made either by the injured workman himself or by some other person acting on his behalf.

5. Failure to give notice of the accident as required will—except in certain circumstances as set out in the Act—debar the workman from taking proceedings for the recovery of compensation under the Act.

6. Proceedings for the recovery of compensation for an injury must be taken within six months from the occurrence of the accident causing the injury, or, in case of a fatal accident, within six months from the date of death.

Failure so to commence proceedings for the recovery of compensation will not be a bar to maintenance of such proceedings if it is found that the failure was due to mistake, absence from Saorstat Eireann or other reasonable cause.

PROCEDURE TO BE FOLLOWED IN CASES OF INDUSTRIAL DISEASE.

7. Compensation may also be recovered in respect of death or disablement caused by any industrial disease which has been scheduled under the Act* or under any Order made under Section 76 (3) of the Act provided that the disease is due to the nature of some employment in which the workman has been employed at any time within twelve months previous to the date of disablement or suspension under the Factory and Workshop Act, 1901.

8. A workman disabled by a scheduled disease may obtain compensation in three ways :—

(i) if he obtains a certificate from the certifying surgeon for the district† that he is suffering from the disease and is disabled by it from earning full wages at his employment ; or

(ii) if in pursuance of any special rules or regulations made under the Factory and Workshop Act, 1901, he has been suspended from his employment by the certifying or other appointed factory surgeon on account of his having contracted the disease ;or

(iii) if his employer agrees that he is liable to pay compensation without requiring a certificate from the certifying surgeon. In that case, the agreement, if recorded with the Circuit Court, will entitle the workman to compensation in the same way as an agreement for payment of compensation in case of an injury by accident.

Accordingly, except in cases where the workman has been suspended or his employer has admitted liability, his first step will be to apply to the certifying surgeon for the necessary certificate of disablement, and it will be the duty of the certifying surgeon, on payment by the workman of the prescribed fee, to examine the workman and give him a certificate either that he is or that he is not disabled by the disease in question.

9. Either the workman or the employer may appeal from the decision of the certifying surgeon to a medical referee. For the purposes of such an appeal by the workman, application must be made to the Registrar of the Circuit Court within 10 days of the date of the certifying surgeon's refusal to give him a certificate of disablement or suspension.

10. The employer from whom the workman is entitled in the first instance to claim compensation is the employer who last employed the workman during the twelve months previous to the date of disablement or suspension in the employment to the nature of which the disease is due.

11. Proceedings for the recovery of compensation for disablement must be made within six months from the date of the disablement or suspension as the case may be, or, in case of death, within six months from the date of death.

Failure so to commence proceedings for the recovery of compensation will not be a bar to the maintenance of such proceedings if it is found that the failure was due to mistake, absence from Saorstát Eireann or other reasonable cause.

*The scheduled diseases include the following : —Miner's nystagmus, beat-hand, miner's beat-knee, miner's beat-elbow and inflammation of the synovial lining of the wrist joint and tendon sheaths, anthrax, lead poisoning, mercury poisoning and other specified forms of industrial poisoning, dermatitis or ulceration of the skin produced by dust or liquids, cancer or ulceration of the skin due to handling tar, pitch, bitumen, mineral oil or paraffin, chrome ulceration, cataract in glass-workers, cataract caused by exposure to rays from molten or red-hot metal, and twister's cramp. A complete list giving the precise description of the diseases scheduled under the Act may be obtained on application to the Department of Industry and Commerce, 51 Dawson Street, Dublin.

FORM B.

August, 1934.

SHIPS AND BOATS.

WORKMEN'S COMPENSATION ACT, 1934 .

A Copy of this Summary is required by Statute to be kept constantly posted up on the ship in some conspicuous place where it may be conveniently read by members of the crew and others employed on board.

SUMMARY.

As prescribed by the Minister for Industry and Commerce of the requirements of the Workmen's Compensation Act, 1934 , with regard to the giving of notice of accident.

MEMBERS OF THE CREW.

1. In order to obtain compensation under the Act, a member of the crew who is disabled by an accident must, unless the accident happened and the disablement commenced on board the ship, give notice of the accident as soon as possible.

2. The notice of the accident must be given in writing to the employer or to the master of the ship or to any officer under whose supervision the seaman is employed, or to any person designated by the employer for the purpose.

3. The notice should give the name and address of the person injured and should state in ordinary language the cause of the injury and the date on which the accident happened.

4. Failure to give notice of the accident as required, will, except in certain circumstances as set out in the Act, debar the seaman from taking proceedings for the recovery of compensation under the Act.

5. Proceedings for the recovery of compensation for an injury must be taken within six months from the occurrence of the accident causing the injury, or, if the accident is a fatal one, within six months after news of the death has been received by the persons claiming as dependants of the deceased seaman.

6. Failure so to commence proceedings for the recovery of compensation will not be a bar to maintenance of such proceedings if it is found that the failure was due to mistake, absence from, Saorstát Eireann, or other reasonable cause.

7. Where an injured master, seaman or apprentice is discharged or left behind abroad, the Act provides that depositions respecting the circumstances and nature of the injury may be taken by certain persons. Under the present law the persons before whom such depositions may be made are the following :—

(a) the persons to whom Section 2 of the Commissioners for Oaths (Diplomatic and Consular) Act, 1931 applies, and

(b) the persons mentioned in Section 6 of the Commissioners for Oaths Act, 1889.

Depositions so taken will be evidence in support of the claim for compensation.

WORKMEN OTHER THAN MEMBERS OF THE CREW.

8. The Workmen's Compensation Act applies to persons, other than a master, seaman or apprentice to the sea service or the sea fishing service, who are employed on board the ship, if they are so employed for the purposes of the ship or of any passenger or cargo or mails carried by the ship, and if they are otherwise " workmen " within the meaning of the Act.

9. Any person so employed should give notice of the accident as soon as possible after it happens.

10. Such notice must be given in writing to the employer, or to any officer or official under whose supervision the workman is employed, or to any person designated for the purpose by the employer.

11. The notice should give the name and address of the person injured and should state in ordinary language the cause of the injury and the date on which the accident happened.

12. The claim for compensation should be served on the employers.

13. Failure to commence proceedings for the recovery of compensation within six months from the date of the accident or death, as the case may be, will be a bar to such proceedings unless it is found that the failure was due to mistake, absence from Saorstát Eireann or other reasonable cause.