Legal Support and Conditions for Compensation for Harm Caused to Health because of Industrial Accidents and Occupational Diseases in Russia and the United States: A Comparative Study

The purpose of the study is to determine the prospects for improving the special system of compensation for harm caused to the employee’s health as a result of accidents at work and occupational diseases in Russia based on the experience of legal regulation and development of such a system in the United States. The choice of the United States is determined by the specifics of regulation and the use of special systems for compensation for industrial damage in this country, which combines the best practices in this field in the world, as well as experimental approaches. The author substantiates the thesis about the compensatory nature of compulsory insurance for the industrial harm risks. It is noted that the national legislator should implement the approach in which the list of legally significant circumstances established for receiving insurance payments under this type of insurance includes only the fact of harm, its size and the fact of the origin of harm from the sphere of production or from industrial (professional) risks. In case of loss of earning capacity, it is important to adhere to a single method of assessing harm to health in terms of lost earnings (income), based either on the loss of ability to work, or on the projected or actual losses of the injured person, which is customary when applying depreciation methods, future losses and actual losses in the United States. At the same time, the method of future or actual losses in the future can be used in Russia for the injured persons returning to work. It is determined that it is advisable to compensate for industrial harm in terms of expenses for medical, social and professional rehabilitation of the injured person, which will free the judicial practice from disputes regarding the validity of providing specific types of assistance and care, as well as the need for them for the injured person.

harm to health, compensation for harm, insurance, accident, occupational disease, production, industrial harm, special system, comparative study

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