Jordan News

An insurance and social protection expert and former spokesperson for the General Organization for Social Security, Musa Al-Subaihi, wondered why only hospital and laboratory specialists, insured under the umbrella of social security, who were infected with the Corona virus, are considered in the category of “work injuries.”

Al-Subaihi said that work injuries should include any injury that the insured person suffers in the workplace as a result of direct contact with the public, saying that the warranty decision to limit infection with COVID-19 – as an occupational injury – to professionals working in hospitals and laboratories reflects a restricted interpretation of the law.

He added that any insured person who contracts COVID-19 at work, or in a work-related environment, must be recognized as a victim of a work injury, especially if this infection leads to disability or death.

Al-Subaihi also wondered why health workers who provide services in vaccine centers and PCR testing sites are not included in work injury insurance, “What if a health worker becomes infected while performing his duty or as a result of that duty?”

And he said, that any worker in these centers is exposed to the virus at any moment from any patient, and he asked: “Do we say that his injury does not fall within the occupational disease and therefore is not considered a work injury?”

For his part, a member of the Allied Health Professions Committee said, “Despite the fact that allied health workers are in direct contact with people and that there is a high probability of contracting the virus, their infection has not been recognized as a work injury.”

He added that 14 workers have passed away since the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic and that a large number of health workers have been infected, “however, only a few of them were granted compensation, and only a few months ago.”

He said health workers are asking for a 135 percent premium on par with other similar sectors, but their demands have not been met.

In turn, Shaman Al-Majali, the official spokesman for Social Security, confirmed that workers in hospitals and medical laboratories are in constant and direct contact with the main cause of the virus, and they are highly vulnerable to infection; “Especially since they are in close contact with COVID-19 patients all the time.”

He added that it is not possible to cover all medical personnel; “We consider the work of people in facilities that contain toxic gases as a dangerous profession, but there are many people who are indirectly exposed to these gases, and therefore their work cannot be considered a dangerous profession.”

He stressed the need for workers to be in direct and continuous contact with patients in order to consider any potential injury as a work injury.

And the Social Security Corporation had previously stated that infection with the Corona virus among insured workers in hospitals and medical laboratories is considered an occupational disease; A form of work injury under the Social Security Act, so if the injury leads to disability or death of the insured, he/she is entitled to compensation.