Under the Employees' Compensation Act, 1954, does a heart attack suffered by a workman on night shift duty amount to an accident arising out of and in the course of employment?

Yes. The word 'accident' under Section 3(1) includes a heart attack, being an untoward event not expected or designed, and where the workman was engaged in the duties of employment at the place of performance and the immediate act was not remote from the sphere of his duties, the death is attributable to an accident in the course of employment.

Employees' Compensation Act, 1954 — s.3(1) — s.30 — Accident arising out of and in the course of employment — Death due to heart attack during night shift — Employees' Compensation Act, 1954 — s.3(1) — Accident — Meaning and test — Held: The expression "accident" under s.3(1) of the Act denotes an untoward event not expected or designed, and includes a heart attack brought about by the condition of the workman himself provided it was not designed by him; the test is whether the workman was engaged in the duties of employment at the place of performance and the immediate act was not so remote from the sphere of duties as to be foreign to them. (¶14, 16) Employees' Compensation Act, 1954 — s.3(1) — Causal connection — Stress and strain leading to heart attack — Held further: Where the deceased was on night shift duty in a mine and found unconscious after working through the night, and there is no material to show he suffered from any pre-existing disease or condition, a finding that the stress and strain of the work led to the heart attack establishes the requisite causal connection between the death and the employment. (¶10, 11, 15) Employees' Compensation Act, 1954 — s.3(1) — s.3(4) — Appellate interference — Perversity standard — Held further: A finding of the Employees' Compensation Commissioner attributing death to work-related stress and strain, where all ingredients of the causal-connection test are satisfied, does not suffer from perversity warranting interference in appeal under Section 30, and the employer remains liable to pay compensation under Section 3(4). Appeal dismissed. (¶15, 18)

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