The Importance of Employment Injury Insurance and Protection in Managing Occupational Safety and Health of the Workforce

The basic condition for creating and maintaining the competitive advantage of an enterprise in the modern business environment is to give priority to the intellectual resources in strategic management of the enterprise and especially to the human resources. Utilizing the potential of human resources is closely linked to caring for their health and safety at work. The aim of this chapter is to overview the level of protection of employees at work from the risk of work injury and occupational diseases to identify the determinants of occupational safety and health of workforce in the European countries and to indicate the various alternatives that can be used to cover the above mentioned risks. Based on comparative analysis of existing insurance schemes of the occupational injury and diseases, the authors will propose the best alternative for protection against these risks, both from aspect of protection of employees and aspect of protection of employers.