Climbing through the attic window can be part of the way to work

BSG sees exceptionally statutory accident insurance
Climbing Employees through an attic window instead of using the front door on the way to work, can still jump in an accident, the statutory accident insurance. For if the outer door of a house is not accessible, exceptionally, climbing through a window can be part of the "immediate way to work", so that accident protection exists on Thursday, August 31, 2017, the Federal Social Court (BSG) in Kassel (Ref .: B 2 U 2/16 R).

This got a self-employed car painter from North Rhine-Westphalia right. The man had agreed on Saturday afternoon of March 17, 2012, an important customer appointment. Previously, he lay down at home again for a nap.

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When he wanted to go then, he did not come out of his apartment. He had previously locked the front door, but when unlocking broke the front door key. With great determination, he climbed through the attic window of the two-and-a-half-story apartment building in order to attend the customer appointment. Over a canopy, 2.60 meters below the window, he then wanted to get on the road.

But he slipped and fell on the canopy. After about one and a half hours, the neighbor heard the man's calls and informed the ambulance. The hospital found a fracture of the right lower leg.

The self-employed motor vehicle painters who were compulsorily insured with the BG (BG) wanted the lintel to have been recognized as a path and thus an accident at work. According to settled case law, passing through the outer door of a house constitutes accident prevention. If this is not possible, accident protection must also exist when leaving the house through a window, he said.

The Land Social Court LSG) North Rhine-Westphalia agreed to that while basically. Here, however, the plaintiff fell on the house belonging canopy. He has not yet reached the public area under accident protection.

However, the BSG had a look with the car painter. For accident prevention, a worker must be on the immediate commute. This is usually the case when passing through the outer door of a house. So there is no accident protection in the stairwell, in contrast, in the still private front yard already. Since the plaintiff could not leave the house through the outer door, exceptionally also climbing through the window lead to recognition as a commuter accident, the supreme social judges ruled.

It does not matter to what extent the canopy belongs to the private sphere or to the public sphere. Rather, the window is to be seen as the boundary between the home and the outside. Here the plaintiff was after climbing through the outside area, so that accident protection existed.

But this is "not a license for climbers," said the BSG. The way through the window can only be insured if the normal path through the apartment and front door is blocked. In addition, the climbing path must also be "suitable". For example, climbing out on the twelfth floor does not count. In addition, it would speak against an accident protection, if the employee would prove in this way as a "good gymnast" or want to express his cockiness and impersonation. But there was no evidence for this. fle / mwo