Accident at work without witnesses: how do you prove what happened?

23 September 2026

Arslan Advocaten

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Accident at work without witnesses: how do you prove what happened?

Even without witnesses, you can hold your employer liable. You do, however, have to make it plausible that you suffered damage and that you suffered that damage while at work. If you succeed, it is then up to your employer to prove that it complied with its duty of care. It is precisely on that first point that cases founder: not on the question of who was at fault, but on the question of whether it has been established what happened.

Nederlands: Lees dit artikel in het Nederlands: Bedrijfsongeval zonder getuigen: hoe bewijst u wat er is gebeurd?

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Written by Onur Arslan, attorney at Arslan Advocaten. Registered in the practice area register of the Netherlands Bar for employment law and personal injury. Content reviewed on 17 September 2026 against the statutory text on wetten.overheid.nl and the judgments cited.

What do you have to prove yourself, and what not?

Article 7:658(2) of the Dutch Civil Code (BW) places most of the burden of proof on the employer. The employer is liable for damage you suffer in the performance of your work, unless it shows that it has fulfilled its duty of care or that the damage is to a significant extent the result of your intent or deliberate recklessness.

That “unless” only comes into play once you have first made two things plausible.

Who	What must be substantiated
You as the employee	that you suffered damage, and that you suffered that damage in the performance of your work
Your employer	that it took all the measures and gave all the instructions that were reasonably necessary, or that the damage is to a significant extent the result of your intent or deliberate recklessness

So you do not have to identify exactly which mistake your employer made. It must, however, become clear that the accident took place at work. Without witnesses that is harder, but rarely impossible.

Why cases founder on this point

On 4 March 2026 the Limburg District Court rejected an employee’s claim. How the accident happened had not been established, and therefore neither had the fact that the damage was suffered during the work. The subdistrict court judge (kantonrechter) did not even get to the question of whether the employer had fulfilled its duty of care (ECLI:NL:RBLIM:2026:2286).

That is the core of this subject. The protection of Article 7:658 of the Dutch Civil Code is strong, but it only starts to work once it has been established that you suffered damage while at work. Your own record-keeping in the first few days often determines whether you clear that threshold.

What you can record if nobody saw it

Witnesses are one means of proof, not the only one. In practice, the following documents often carry more weight, precisely because they bear a date.

A message on the day itself. A WhatsApp message or email to your manager, a colleague or your partner in which you write what happened. Such a message has a time stamp and is difficult to contradict later.
The report to your employer. Ask for written confirmation or a copy of the accident register. Employers are required to keep a list of occupational accidents resulting in absence from work (Article 9(2) of the Working Conditions Act).
The visit to your GP or the emergency department. Your medical file records when the symptoms began and what you gave as the cause at the time. That last point is often decisive, so tell the doctor that it happened at work.
Photographs of the location and the equipment, with the date. Also photograph what was not there: a missing guard, broken lighting, a slippery floor without markings.
Your roster and the job sheet. These show that you were working at that moment and what task you had.
Camera footage. Many companies keep footage for only a few weeks. Ask for it in writing, stating the date and time period, and keep that letter.

Requesting camera footage before it disappears

If you appear in the footage, it constitutes your personal data. Under the GDPR (AVG) you can request access to the footage in which you can be seen. Do so in writing and immediately: a request made two months later usually finds an empty hard drive. Explicitly ask at the same time whether the footage can be preserved in connection with a personal injury file.

If the employer refuses, that in itself is not yet proof of liability. A court may, however, take into account that a party allowed evidence it could easily have preserved to disappear.

Symptoms that only appear later

Back pain after an awkward movement, hearing damage, or pain that only really sets in the next morning: in such cases there is no single moment of impact. A different track applies here. Where damage is caused by exposure to hazardous conditions, the employee need only make it plausible that he was exposed to conditions capable of causing the damage, and that he has that damage. It is then up to the employer to show that it fulfilled its duty of care (Supreme Court 17 November 2000, ECLI:NL:HR:2000:AA8369, Unilever/Dikmans).

That rule is not a free pass. The link between the work and your symptoms must not be too uncertain or too indeterminate. Where a complaint could also have arisen outside work, a medical investigation into the causal link is almost always necessary.

Working alone, night shifts, no manager nearby

If you work alone or at night, there are almost by definition no witnesses. In that case, pay attention to three things.

Report it while still on shift, even if you think it is not serious. A phone call to the control room or the on-call service leaves a trace in their log.
Ask about the incident register. Many companies record every irregularity in a system. Even a short entry there serves as evidence later on.
Look at the instructions. Working alone on certain tasks is sometimes prohibited or only permitted under supervision. If that supervision was missing, this goes directly to the duty of care.

Not sure whether your evidence is sufficient?

Have your file assessed before you take a position towards the insurer. We look at which documents exist, which can still be requested and whether it makes sense to apply for a provisional examination of witnesses or an expert investigation.

Call 070 450 0300 or send your question via the contact form.

Frequently asked questions

Can I submit a claim without witnesses?

Yes. Witnesses are not a requirement. You do have to make it plausible that you suffered damage while at work. Time-stamped messages, your medical file, the accident register and photographs can take over that role.

My employer denies that it happened at work. What now?

Then the case will first be about how the accident happened. Gather everything that carries a date: rosters, job sheets, messages, the first medical record. A provisional examination of witnesses can be a way of having colleagues give evidence under oath before memories fade.

How long is camera footage kept?

That varies from company to company and is often a matter of weeks. Ask for it in writing straight away and keep a copy of your request. You can request footage in which you yourself appear under the GDPR (AVG).

I did not report the accident at the time. Am I too late?

No, a late report does not rule out a claim. It does, however, make the dispute about how the accident happened more difficult. The limitation period for personal injury is five years from the day after you became aware of both the damage and the liable party (Article 3:310(5) of the Dutch Civil Code).

Does a statement from my partner count?

It can be taken into account, but it carries less weight than a document from the period itself. A message you sent on the day is therefore more valuable than a statement drawn up two years later.