Social Security Corporation urges safer work environment for sanitation workers

AMMAN — The Social Security Corporation (SSC) has paid JD345,000 to cover the medical expenses of a non-Jordanian subscriber who suffered from a work-related injury, an SSC official said on Sunday.

The 56-year-old Egyptian sanitation worker at the Greater Amman Municipality (GAM) was injured in 2013 when a garbage container fell off a compactor and hit him, SSC Media Director Musa Sbeihi told The Jordan Times.

"He suffered a serious neck injury and was hospitalised for over a year, including almost one year in the intensive care unit, until he passed away in 2014," Sbeihi said. "He was first admitted to a private hospital, and due to his critical situation, we were unable to transfer him to a public hospital," the SSC media director said, adding that GAM or any other employer would not have been able to pay such "high" medical fees and compensation in case of work injuries.

"The SSC is committed to paying 75 per cent of his salary... to his heirs by law," he noted. 

Subscribers to work injury insurance can benefit from it starting from the day of subscription, according to the SSC.

"Other insurance like retirement or natural disability compensation require a longer duration of subscription, which could reach 15 to 20 years, in order for the subscriber to benefit," Sbeihi explained.

The subscriber in this case had been covered by insurance for almost 10 years, he said, urging employers to subscribe their employees to the SSC work injury insurance.

"It is important that employers provide safe work environments to minimise the number of workplace injury cases," Sbeihi said. 

Work injuries in 2013 cost the SSC around JD15 million.

The SSC official said similar incidents involving sanitation workers have taken place before, noting that municipalities' garbage compactors often move before sanitation workers have safely taken their places and they usually hang on to "unsafe" grips before gaining their footing.