Accidents happen both on and off the job. Sometimes, injuries such as tripping and falling down happen without explanation. Are those accidents covered by workers’ compensation?
In Georgia, an injury is compensable under workers’ compensation when it satisfies the following three criteria: (1) it is the result of an accident; (2) it arises out of the worker’s employment; and (3) it occurs in the course of employment. O.C.G.A. 34-9-1(4). Traditionally, Georgia courts determined if an injury arose out of employment by assessing whether the causative danger was peculiar to the work. That means that an injury is covered by workers’ compensation if the employment brings an employee “within the range of the danger by requiring his presence in the locale” when the peril occurs, even if any other person present would have been injured regardless of their employment. However, this doctrine does not apply when the risk causing claimant’s injury is common to the general public and exists without any connection to “place, employment or pursuit.” National Fire Insurance Co. v. Edwards, 152 Ga.App. 566, 263 S.E.2d 455 (1979).
Trips and falls can happen anywhere. Sometimes they are a result of a hazard in the area. Other times, they seemingly occur without explanation. Under the principle established by the Georgia code and Edwards, an unexplainable fall is not compensable under workers’ compensation even if it occurred in the course of employment if it did not arise out of the employment. To show that an injury did not arise out of employment, the employer must prove that:
1. No rational connection existed between the claimant’s job duties and the fall;
2. Claimant’s injury did not result from a particular cause;
3. The hazard that caused claimant’s injury was that of walking, and claimant was equally exposed to this hazard outside of work; and
4. Claimant did not hit or impact an object specifically related to the work place as part of the fall other than the floor.
See generally, id.; Borden Foods Co. v. Dorsey, 112 Ga.App. 838, 146 S.E.2d 532 (1965); Davis v. Houston General Insurance Co., 141 Ga.App. 385, 233 S.E.2d 479 (1977); Prudential Bank v. Moore, 219 Ga.App. 847, 467 S.E.2d 7 (1996); and Chaparral Boats, Inc. v. Heath, 269 Ga.App. 339, 606 S.E.2d 567 (2004).
For example, in Chaparral Boats, Inc., the claimant hyper-extended her left knee while walking across her employer’s premises to clock in to work. Claimant could not show that she tripped or fell over any object. The injury occurred in the course of claimant’s employment because it took place during a reasonable period of ingress from claimant’s car to the workplace. Nevertheless, the Court concluded that claimant’s injury resulted solely from walking, and that claimant was exposed to this risk equally apart from work as she was at work. Thus, an employer is not liable when the employee’s injury does not arise out of the employment.
For more information, please contact Catherine Dellinger Buckley at (404) 633-9230.
