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Death of ‘would be river hero’ recognized as work related after 8 year battle.
posted Sunday, 12 June 2005
In a rare move, that may open the way for further claims, a Labor Insurance Appeal panel has ruled that the wife of a Japanese man, who died trying to save the lives of two Chinese women, is eligible for workers compensation as a result of a ‘work related’ fatality.
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"His death should be considered work-related," Labor Insurance Appeal Panel, Japan |
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The man, an employee of a Chiba based sand and aggregate processing group, was working on a river in Fujian Province, South East China, in July 1997 when he saw two women in difficulty and attempted to rescue them.
The panel, one of Japan’s highest authorities on such matters, ruled that because the man had been acting on property owned by a subsidiary of his employers, during company time, and in conjunction with the company president, his death should be considered work related.
Initially, the employing company denied that the man had died while on duty, saying that, because he had attempted the rescue without clear orders to do so, and because it was not part of his job to perform life saving duties, he should be considered to have been acting as a private individual working on his personal initiative, and not as an employee.
The company’s key argument, that the man was acting on his own rather than in accordance with his duties, was dismissed by the panel on the grounds that the company’s President also took part in the ill fatted rescue attempt. In Japan’s strictly hierarchical society, such participation can be considered be considered to be direct order to participate.
The victory comes after two other bodies, the Chiba Labor Standard Inspection Office and the Chiba Workers' Accident Insurance Examination Office, had refused to recognize the death as being work related and was hailed as being a "landmark decision" by Furuya Sugio, the Secretary General of the Japanese Occupational Safety and Health Resource Center.
One aspect of the case does however remain a mystery; though the two Chinese women were safely returned to the bank of the river, they disappeared shortly afterwards and could not be located. There has also been little explanation as to what they were doing in the river, which was part of a privately managed tourist attraction.
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