Reporting an Accident to Suva: Process, Deadlines and What the Employer Must Do

When an employer learns that someone in the business has had an accident resulting in medical treatment, incapacity for work or death, it must report this to its accident insurer without delay (Art. 45 para. 2 UVG). This applies to occupational and non-occupational accidents. The law does not set a deadline in days, «without delay» means as quickly as possible. With Suva, you report online via mySuva, with the Sunetplus software, through certified payroll software or with the form. If the incapacity for work lasts no more than three calendar days, it is a minor accident with a simplified report. For occupational accidents, the employer must also investigate the cause and circumstances without delay (Art. 53 para. 2 UVV).

This article shows the process from the accident to the daily allowance, which information Suva needs, what applies to minor accidents, relapses and occupational diseases, and how to learn from every accident.

Suva or a private insurer

Whether you report to Suva depends on your business. Art. 66 UVG lists the businesses insured with Suva, including industrial businesses, construction and installation, businesses machining metal, wood or plastics, traffic and transport, and temporary staffing agencies. All other businesses insure their employees with a private insurer, a public accident insurance fund or a health insurer (Art. 68 UVG).

The reporting obligation is the same for every insurer under the Accident Insurance Act. Only the reporting channel and the forms differ. This article describes the process with Suva.

Who has to report what

Who	Obligation	Basis
Injured person	reports every accident requiring medical treatment or causing incapacity for work to the employer or insurer without delay	Art. 45 para. 1 UVG
Employer	reports to the insurer without delay as soon as it learns of the accident	Art. 45 para. 2 UVG
Employer	investigates the cause and circumstances of occupational accidents without delay	Art. 53 para. 2 UVV
Employer	provides the insurer with the necessary information and keeps the documents available	Art. 56 UVV
Surviving dependants	report in the event of death	Art. 45 para. 1 UVG

What happens if no report is made. If the employer fails to report without excuse, the insurer can hold it liable for the resulting costs (Art. 46 para. 3 UVG). If the injured person fails to report an accident within three months without excuse, the insurer can reduce their benefits by half (Art. 46 para. 2 UVG).

Beware of deadlines in days. Figures such as «within three days» or «within eight days» circulate online. Neither the UVG nor the UVV sets such a deadline. What counts is «without delay», and Suva asks for reports as quickly as possible.

Occupational or non-occupational accident

Under Art. 4 ATSG, an accident is the sudden, unintentional harmful effect of an unusual external factor on the body. In addition, insurance benefits are also paid for certain bodily injuries such as fractures and meniscus, muscle and tendon tears, unless they are mainly due to wear or illness (Art. 6 para. 2 UVG).

• Occupational accident. An accident during work ordered by the employer or in its interest, including during breaks and before and after work while the person is authorised to be at the workplace (Art. 7 UVG). This also includes accidents on business trips outside leisure time, on company outings organised or funded by the employer, in courses that are required or permitted by the employer, and during transport in company vehicles on the way to work organised and funded by the employer (Art. 12 UVV).
• Non-occupational accident. All other accidents, for example in leisure time or during sport (Art. 8 UVG). Anyone working at least 8 hours a week for the same employer is insured (Art. 13 UVV). Those who work less are not insured against non-occupational accidents, but accidents on the way to work then count as occupational accidents.

Both types are reported. For a non-occupational accident, the employer takes over the information provided by the injured person (Art. 53 para. 2 UVV).

Reporting an accident in seven steps

1. First aid and safety. Care for the injured, secure the accident site and call the emergency number 144 if necessary.
2. Internal report. The injured person or witnesses report the accident to their supervisor.
3. Call immediately for serious and fatal accidents. Suva asks to be informed by phone immediately in addition to the written report.
4. Classify as a minor or regular accident. The decisive factor is the duration of the incapacity for work, see below.
5. Claim report to Suva. Online via the «report a claim» service in mySuva, also without registration, with the free Sunetplus software, through KLE-certified payroll software (Swissdec standard) or with the form. Suva recommends Sunetplus or payroll software for more than 15 claims a year.
6. Hand over the accident certificate. Except in minor cases, the injured person receives an accident certificate (Art. 53 para. 2 UVV). They show it to the doctor, who enters the incapacity for work, and return it to the employer after treatment ends, who forwards it to the insurer.
7. Investigate the accident. For occupational accidents, investigate the cause and circumstances without delay and define measures so that the accident does not happen again.

What information Suva needs

For a complete claim report, Suva lists the following information, among others.

• type of accident and exact circumstances, in other words what, where, when and how
• weekly working hours and the exact job title, for example «metal grinder» rather than «grinder»
• usual workplace, business unit, sub-number and address number
• gross salary subject to AHV as the basis for the daily allowance
• for a non-occupational accident, the reason for absence from work
• for a relapse, the claim number of the original accident or, alternatively, the date of the claim and the employer at the time

The «Schadenmeldung UVG» form (109) includes further fields, such as the part of the body affected, the type of injury, objects involved, whether there is a police report, and incapacity for work and treating doctors. For the circumstances of occupational accidents, Suva refers to its protocol for the internal accident investigation.

Minor accident or regular accident

	Minor accident	Regular accident
Incapacity for work	none or no more than three calendar days, in other words the day of the accident plus two days	more than three calendar days, including the day of the accident
Report	simplified, online or with the «Bagatellunfall-Meldung UVG» form (913)	claim report under the Accident Insurance Act, online or with form 109
Accident certificate	none	yes
Daily allowance	none, because it only starts on the third day after the day of the accident	from the third day after the day of the accident
Confirmation from Suva	waived for economic reasons	yes

According to Suva, occupational diseases, dental damage and relapses are never reported as minor accidents but always with the claim report under the Accident Insurance Act (form 109). Report minor accidents consistently too. Suva stresses that they are then documented in case late effects occur.

Relapses, late effects and occupational diseases

Relapses and late effects. Benefits are also paid for complaints that reappear after an accident has been closed (Art. 11 UVV). They are reported like a new case, with the claim number of the original accident. If it is not known, the date of the claim and the employer at the time are sufficient.

Occupational diseases. Diseases caused at work exclusively or mainly by substances or types of work on the Federal Council’s list, and other diseases proven to be caused exclusively or predominantly by work, are treated like an occupational accident (Art. 9 UVG). They are reported through the same channels as an accident, and the form has a separate field for them. The «day of the accident» is the first medical consultation or the day work was stopped.

Salary and daily allowance after an accident

The daily allowance from accident insurance starts on the third day after the day of the accident (Art. 16 para. 2 UVG) and amounts to 80 percent of insured earnings for full incapacity for work (Art. 17 para. 1 UVG). Salary is insured up to a maximum of CHF 148,200 a year (Art. 22 para. 1 UVV). For the waiting period before that, in other words the day of the accident and the two following days, the employer must pay at least four fifths of the salary (Art. 324b para. 3 OR).

If the employer continues to pay salary during the incapacity for work, the daily allowance is paid to the employer to that extent (Art. 19 para. 2 ATSG). Suva bases the calculation on the salary details in the claim report, so it pays to state the AHV salary carefully.

Learning from every accident, the internal investigation

The report to Suva takes care of the insurance. It does not ensure that the accident does not happen again. For that, Art. 53 para. 2 UVV requires the employer to investigate the cause and circumstances of occupational accidents without delay.

Suva describes the approach in its publication «Die betriebsinterne Unfallabklärung» (66100, in German). The direct supervisors should investigate together with the safety officers, as quickly as possible and at the scene of the accident. The aim is not to find someone to blame but to find the real causes. The process has three steps, record the basic data, identify the causes and plan measures.

Near misses. Only accidents are reported to the insurer. The UVG and UVV do not require near misses to be reported or recorded. Suva does, however, recommend investigating all undesired events, in other words accidents, near misses and property damage, and the ASA system of EKAS also provides for this. You can read more about the obligations under the ASA guideline in our article on EKAS guideline 6508. How to derive measures from the findings is shown in the article Hazard assessment step by step.

Data protection. Health data is particularly sensitive personal data (Art. 5 let. c no. 2 DSG). The employer may only process employee data insofar as it concerns suitability for the employment relationship or is necessary for performing the employment contract (Art. 328b OR). Information about the injury is needed for the report to the insurer. For internal analysis, the type, location and cause of the accident are usually sufficient. We therefore recommend not including diagnoses in the internal accident statistics and giving access to injury details only to the people who need them for the report.

Reporting accidents and near misses with the Safety App

An accident cannot be undone. Whether the next one happens, however, depends on what happens afterwards. In the Safety App by Digital Airways, anyone reports an accident, near miss, dangerous situation or property damage via a posted QR code, with a photo, without an account and without signing in. Temporary staff and contractors in particular report what would otherwise go unnoticed.

The accident report is filled in on the official Suva forms 109 and 913 and output as a PDF, so nobody has to copy the details a second time. You submit the PDF to Suva as usual. For every incident you define an action with an owner and a deadline, and the analysis shows accidents by type, severity and location. The Safety App is not Suva’s app and has not been tested, certified or approved by Suva.

Frequently asked questions about reporting accidents

How quickly must a workplace accident be reported to Suva?

Without delay, as soon as the employer learns of it (Art. 45 para. 2 UVG). There is no deadline in days. According to Suva, you should also report serious and fatal accidents immediately by phone.

Do I have to report an accident without lost working time?

Yes, if it requires medical treatment. This is then usually a minor accident, which you report in simplified form. An accident that neither requires medical or dental treatment nor results in incapacity for work or death does not fall under the reporting obligation of Art. 45 UVG. If treatment becomes necessary later, report it without delay at that point.

Who reports a leisure-time accident?

The injured person reports it to the employer, and the employer reports it to the insurer, taking over the information provided by the injured person (Art. 53 para. 2 UVV). The non-occupational accident is insured if the person works at least 8 hours a week for you. If the person works less, the leisure-time accident is not insured through your business.

What is the difference between Suva forms 109 and 913?

Form 109 is the claim report under the Accident Insurance Act for regular accidents, occupational diseases, dental damage and relapses. Form 913 is the simplified report for minor accidents with no more than three calendar days of incapacity for work.

Does a workplace accident also have to be reported to the labour inspectorate?

At federal level, the UVG, UVV and VUV do not impose such an obligation on the employer. Some cantons have their own rules, for example Geneva, where accidents in a business that require a doctor or the evacuation of an injured person must be reported immediately to the cantonal labour inspectorate (OCIRT). Check the rules of your canton.

Do I have to report near misses?

Not to the insurer. Recording them internally is very worthwhile, because every near miss reveals a hazard before someone is injured. Suva and the ASA system of EKAS recommend investigating near misses too.

Your next step

Would you like to see how QR code reporting, the Suva form and actions work together in one system? In a Safety App demo we will show you in 30 minutes using your own areas.

This article gives an overview of the legal situation and does not replace legal advice. It is based on the UVG, UVV, ATSG, OR and DSG in the version published on fedlex.admin.ch and on Suva’s information and forms, as of October 2026. For your individual case, please contact your accident insurer.