GENESIS OF THE FORMATION AND DEVELOPMENT OF OBLIGATORY SOCIAL INSURANCE AGAINST ACCIDENTS IN UKRAINE

Problem setting. To address practical issues related to the reform of social insurance of workers against accidents in Ukraine, it is necessary to explore the theoretical and legal ideas and genesis mechanisms of social protection of victims in the workplace. To achieve this goal, it is reasonable to study patterns of formation and development of employee insurance in Ukraine during the 19th and 20th centuries. Analysis of recent research and publications. The following scientists were engaged in research of the specified issue: N.A. Vihdorchyk, L.V. Zabelin, A.V. Repenak, V.G. Yarotskiy, A.A. Press, I.F. Engel, Z.R. Tettenborn and others. Research objective. Generalization of the historical experience of the mechanisms of protection of accident victims at work, and development of the periodization stages of modern social insurance against industrial injury victims in Ukraine. Conclusions and prospects for development. In the evolution of the legal approach of providing workers injured at work, you can identify a number of stages. In pre-revolutionary period Ukraine followed the same development that most of the Western Europe. The first stage was compensation for an injury according to the civil law. Compensation was carried out in full, but the compensation was associated with a number of difficulties, which were caused firstly by a court adjudicative fact of worker's right to receive compensation, and secondly by the risk of bankruptcy of the employer. In turn, for the employer compensation expenses were unpredictable and could become an unbearable burden. A period of the special employer's liability for damage to employee caused by industrial accidents can be considered as the second stage. The duty of proving guilt shifted from the worker to the employer, which had to prove the guilt of the victim in that accident. This period was also characterized by the possibility of the employer's voluntary liability insurance. Redistribution of risk made it possible for employers to calculate and plan their expenses for employees, and greatly simplified receipt of the compensation for workers. The third stage was the introduction of obligatory social insurance against industrial accidents and occupational diseases. Transition from the employer's liability insurance to social insurance against occupational risks is associated with changes in fundamentals of insurance which include its object, principles, and objectives. It was necessary to theoretically justify and create a fundamentally different mechanism of compensation for damage caused to the worker’s health by industrial injury or occupational disease, and in case of his death - disabled dependents. After analyzing the experience of our country, as well as the experience of developed Western countries, one can conclude that among all the mechanisms used to protect victims of industrial accidents the obligatory social insurance is the most effective. Social insurance is the system which, firstly, can provide the necessary and appropriate social protection for workers and, secondly, is the most cost-effective for the employer.