After an accident at work the first days build or break the case: the medical record, the notification, the witnesses. And the fear of taking on your own employer has a calmer answer than most people expect.
Everything that is later argued about, how the accident happened, how badly you were hurt, whether anything could have prevented it, is decided on records created in the first week, usually by people who were not thinking about a claim at the time.
Health first, and the record with it
The first move is obvious: medical attention, immediately. The second is less obvious and just as important: tell the doctor exactly how it happened, that it was at work, with what machine or in what conditions.
The first medical file is the most reliable record of what happened, and it will be read again and again as the case goes on. An accident that never passed through a doctor is an accident the insurer will dispute.
Notification: the employer's duty, your precaution
The law puts notification on the employer's shoulders. A serious accident at work, a death, or incapacity for work beyond three calendar days, is notified to the competent District Labour Inspection Office, immediately by the fastest means and in writing on the approved form within fifteen days. Failing to do it is the employer's breach, not yours.
Your own precaution is simple: report the accident to your employer in writing, even by an email or a message saying what happened, where and when, and keep it. That produces a dated report that exists independently of anyone's memory.
The evidence that disappears fastest
Photographs of the place, the machine and the conditions, taken the same day if anyone can. The names and numbers of colleagues who saw it, collected before people move on to other jobs. Any instruction, training record or equipment log that existed. Sites get tidied, machines get repaired, and rosters get overwritten, all of it innocently and all of it against you later.
The question everyone asks last
The limitation period is the one in section 6(2) of the Limitation of Actions Law, 66(I)/2012, rather than the six years section 7(1) gives ordinary contract claims. The basis of the claim itself is negligence, a civil wrong under section 51 of the Civil Wrongs Law, Cap. 148, while section 57 reduces damages by the injured person’s share of responsibility instead of defeating the claim, and section 65 provides that a benefit received does not come off the award in the way people expect.
Whether pursuing a claim means taking on your employer is the fear that delays most of these cases past the point where the evidence still exists. In practice the claim is usually met by an insurer rather than out of the employer's pocket, and the employer's own duty was to be insured for exactly this. Delay does not make the question easier; it only makes the case weaker.
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The medical records from the first attendance, whatever you sent your employer and when, photographs, the names of witnesses, and anything you were given about the machine or the task. If more than a few days have passed, send what exists now rather than waiting to assemble a complete file.
Questions we are asked
What exactly is negligence?
Section 51 of Cap. 148 splits it in two. The first is doing an act which in the circumstances a reasonable prudent person would not do, or omitting one which such a person would do. The second is failing to use the skill or care in the exercise of a profession, trade or occupation that a reasonable prudent person qualified to exercise it would use. On a construction site the second limb is often the decisive one.
My employer says I knew the risk and accepted it.
Section 59 of Cap. 148 does give a defence where the plaintiff knew and appreciated the state of affairs causing the damage and voluntarily exposed themselves to it. But it carries a proviso that limits it severely: it does not apply where the civil wrong was due to the non-performance of a duty imposed by law. In work accidents, where liability springs from statutory safety obligations, that is usually where the argument fails.
What matters most in the first days?
Medical attention, and telling the doctor exactly how it happened, that it was at work and in what conditions. The first medical file is the most reliable record of the accident and is read repeatedly as the case proceeds.
Who has to notify the accident?
The employer. A serious accident at work, a death, or incapacity for work beyond three calendar days is notified to the competent District Labour Inspection Office, immediately by the fastest means and in writing on the approved form within fifteen days. Failing to do so is the employer's breach, not the injured person's.
Should I report it to my employer myself?
Yes, in writing, even by email or message saying what happened, where and when, and keep a copy. That creates a dated report that does not depend on anyone's memory.
Does claiming mean suing my employer personally?
In practice the claim is usually met by an insurer rather than out of the employer's own pocket, and being insured for this was the employer's own obligation. The fear of the question is what delays most of these cases past the point where the evidence still exists.
Related reading
What can be claimed, and how each head is measured, is in the heads of compensation. See also construction and workplace accident claims and the limitation calculator.
This article is for general information only and does not constitute legal advice. Laws and their application can change, and individual circumstances differ. For advice on your own matter, contact Klitos Platis at klitos@kleanthousplatis.com or telephone +357 22 680 330.
Klitos Platis
Advocate, Partner
Kleanthous & Platis LLC, Nicosia · Published 10 August 2026
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