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by ZuLuuuuuu 691 days ago
I wish him a speedy and full recovery. It is no joke, the results could have been worse.

A few years ago, when returning back from work, I was hit by a bus while crossing the road and had some of the similar injuries. Fortunately, the laws here (Belgium) are firm and it was considered as work related accident because it happened while I was returning from work. Stayed at the hospital for 3 weeks, and then stayed at home for about 1.5 more months for recovery.

And I was the only software developer at a tech company at the time. Bus factor is real: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bus_factor

1 comments

I’m glad that you’re physically and personally okay, but that’s insane to me that an accident like that is anywhere even tangentially the workplace’s fault.
It's not about fault is it? It's about a level of care (which one can argue about). In this case the society says your work has a responsibility to provide for you in case of accident within certain parameters. He keeps his job, he is cared for and he continues to be useful to society. It's a not unreasonable approach.
The care should be provided by the company operating the bus because they caused the harm, I don’t think it’s the workplace’s responsibility to accept liability for an employee outside of when they are acting on behalf of the employer.

That just seems like an ideological divide between Belgium’s lawmakers and I, which is fine - I don’t live there and they’re welcome to do what works for their country.

Being a work related accident does not mean the company I work for payed for everything. It just means they took responsibility of handling the case which is very logical, as the reason I walk 1 km every day to the train station and back is only because I am going to work and coming back from it.

In the end, my health insurance, the bus company and the company I work for, all contributed to the payment of expenses.