If I get burned while brewing milk powder at work, is it considered a work injury? In a broad sense, work-related injuries include not only injuries caused by the performance of duties at work, but also injuries suffered in the category of satisfying physiological needs such as drinking water and eating. Is it considered to be a necessary physiological need to be made with powdered milk? Can it be recognized as a work-related injury?
Ms. Liu was accidentally scalded by hot water while brewing milk powder during work, and was diagnosed with second-degree burns on her left lower limb.
Subsequently, it was recognized as a work-related injury by the Human Resources and Social Security Bureau of a district in Shanghai. However, the employer argued that the injuries caused by the employee's eating and drinking behavior other than drinking water during work were not work-related injuries, so it filed an administrative lawsuit with the district people's court to request that the decision be revoked.
The court ruled that brewing milk powder belongs to the category of normal physiological needs, and the behavior of workers to meet their necessary and reasonable physiological needs in the course of labor is a prerequisite for engaging in labor work, is part of the labor rights, and should be protected by law.
Article 14 of the Regulations on Work-related Injury Insurance stipulates that if an employee has any of the following circumstances, it shall be deemed to be a work-related injury:
1) Being injured in an accident during working hours and in the workplace due to work-related reasons;
2) Being injured in an accident while engaging in work-related preparatory or finishing work in the workplace before or after working hours;
3) Injured by violence or other accidents during working hours and in the workplace due to the performance of work duties;
4) Suffering from occupational diseases;
5) Injured or unaccounted for in an accident while away for work;
6) Injured in a traffic accident or an accident involving urban rail transit, passenger ferry, or train for which they are not primarily responsible;
7) Other circumstances that laws and administrative regulations provide shall be recognized as work-related injuries.