Revised Laws of Saint Lucia (2021)

246.   Requirement to give notice of accidents

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    (1)   Subject to subsection (2), where any accident arising out of, and in the course of the employment of an employee occurs and—

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      (a)     causes loss of life to such employee; or

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      (b)     disables such employee, for more than one day, from earning full wages at the work at which the employee was employed at the time of such accident;

written notice of the accident in the form and accompanied by the particulars prescribed, shall promptly in the case of paragraph (a) and within four days in the case of paragraph (b), be sent by the employer to the Department of Labour and the committee, safety and health representative or trade union, if any, and the National Insurance Corporation.

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    (2)   In the case of a self-employed person, notification of death under subsection (1), shall be made by the deceased's next of kin, or in the case of a partnership, by the partner in the industrial establishment.

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    (3)   Where any accident causing disablement has been notified under this section, and after such notification the accident results in the death of the person disabled, notice in writing of the death shall promptly be sent by the employer to the Department of Labour and the committee, safety and health representative or trade union, if any, as soon as the fact of the death comes to the knowledge of the employer.

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    (4)   Where an accident causing disablement has been notified under this section and the said disablement has ceased, notice in writing of the date when the disablement ceased shall be sent by the employer to the Department of Labour and the committee, safety and health representative or trade union, if any, within two weeks from that date, in the form and accompanied by the particulars set out in the Schedule 3.

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    (5)   Any employer who fails to comply with the requirements of subsection (1), (2) or (4) shall be liable on summary conviction to a fine not exceeding $10,000.

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    (6)   Where any accident to which this section applies occurs to a worker whose services are for the time being temporarily lent or let on hire to another person by the employer, such other person, if he or she fails to report the accident to the employer immediately, commits an offence, and the employer shall not be liable under the provisions of subsection (5) unless it is established that he or she knew of the accident.

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    (7)   Where a person loses his or her life or is disabled under subsection (1), a person shall not, except for the purpose of—

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      (a)     saving life or relieving human suffering;

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      (b)     maintaining an essential public utility service or a public transportation system; or

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      (c)     preventing unnecessary damage to equipment or other property,

interfere with, disturb, destroy, alter or carry away any wreckage or article at the scene or connected with the occurrence which gave rise to loss of life or disablement until permission so to do has been given by the Police and the Coroner.

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    (8)   A register of all accidents to which this section applies shall be kept and maintained by the employer in the prescribed form.