Cap. 318 Art. 28Injury Benefit.

(1) Subject to the provisions of this Act, where an insured person who has not yet reached his retirement age suffers personal injury caused by accident arising out of or in the course of his employment or self-occupation, or has developed any of the diseases specified in the first column of the Fourth Schedule to this

Act (being a disease due to the nature of his work), then Injury Benefit shall be payable to him in accordance with Part I of the Third Schedule to this Act if within a period of twelve months from the date of the accident or the onset of the disease, he is, as a result of the injury or disease, incapable of work: Provided that notwithstanding the fact that any such disease may not be specified in the said Fourth Schedule to this Act, Injury Benefit may nonetheless be payable if the Director is satisfied that the disease developed due to the nature of his work: Provided that and notwithstanding the provisions of article 90, with effect from 1st January 2023, the provisions of this article shall also apply to a widow who is in receipt of a Pension under Part IV of this Act, who is in an insurable employment, and who has not yet reached pension age: Provided further that where a person -

(i) is disqualified from receiving Injury Benefit in accordance with sub-article (6), he shall have his entitlement to such benefit reduced by the number of days of disqualification;

(ii) is found to be suffering from pneumoconiosis, accompanied by pulmonary tuberculosis, the effect of tuberculosis shall be treated, for the purposes of the disease specified in the Fourth Schedule to this Act, as if they were the effects of the pneumoconiosis.

(2) Subject to the provisions of article 92, Injury Benefit shall not be payable in respect of an accident happening to a person while he is outside Malta, unless the accident arises out of or in the course of his employment or self-occupation as is specified in article 13 or in the proviso to paragraph 1 of Part I of the First Schedule to this Act or in paragraph 2 of the said Part I of the First Schedule.

(3) An accident happening to a person while he is -

(a) travelling as a passenger to or from his place of work in any vehicle (including a ship, vessel or aircraft) which is in any way provided or paid for directly by his employer; or

(b) anywhere within the precincts of the premises or place where he is usually employed or self-occupied, and the cause of the accident is directly connected with the work being carried out in those premises or in that place; shall be deemed to arise out of or in the course of his employment or self-occupation.

(4) An accident happening to a person in or about any place of work at which he is for the time being employed for the purposes of his employer’s trade or business or self-occupied shall be deemed to arise out of or in the course of his employment or self-occupation if it happens while he is taking steps on an actual or supposed emergency at that place of work to rescue, succour or protect persons who are, or are thought to be or possibly to be, injured or imperilled, or to avert or minimise serious damage to property.

(5) The Injury Benefit payable under this article shall be paid in respect of any day (excluding any day on which, whether incapacitated or not, such person would not have been required to attend to work in the normal course of his duties) and during which as a result of the relevant injury, the person concerned is incapable of work during the period referred to in sub-article (1):

Provided that no Injury Benefit shall be paid for the first three days of every spell of such incapacity for work:

Provided further that in any uninterrupted period of incapacity for work, the maximum number of consecutive days in respect of which Injury Benefit may be paid shall, in no case, exceed six.

(6) A person shall be disqualified from receiving Injury Benefit for any period as may be deemed fit by the Director in the circumstances of the case for the same reasons as indicated in article 18(6)(a), (b) and (c), and where it has been proven that the person concerned has acted negligently by disregarding any safety precautions that he was obliged to take in terms of the Health and Safety at Work Act, thereby causing the accident that resulted in the injury: Provided that where it is proven that the employer was in breach of any of the provisions of the Health and Safety at Work

Act, the Director may claim from the employer any benefit paid to the insured person relating to such accident.

(7) For the purposes of sub-article (2) to (6) -

(i) "injury caused by accident" includes the development of any one of the diseases specified as aforesaid in this article; and

(ii) "accident arising out of or in the course of his work" includes the onset of any such disease which is due to the nature of one’s employment or self-occupation.