On the Issue of Expanding the Number of Insured Persons with Social Insurance Against Occupational Risks

Abstract

In recent decades, specialists from the International Labor Organization have noted a stable trend towards an increase in the number of people employed in the informal sector of the economy. New forms of employment emerged - freelancers, also there is an increase in the volume of work performed on digital platforms. All this highlights the issue of social protection of such workers from occupational risks. The modern national welfare system is based on obligatory social insurance of workers under an employment contract, which automatically excludes all other forms of employment from the scope of social insurance. The authors emphasized the significance of the problem of coverage of the population with protection from occupational risks. According to official statistics more than 20% of workers in the Russian Federation are employed in informal sector. There is little work safety oversight in the sphere of small business. Based on the analysis of international experience, authors proposed to use the state insurance model for organizing occupational risk insurance for people employed in private sector. With regard to small businesses, we determined that, due to limited resources, business owners are not able to install the most advanced and safe technologies and need professional advice on organizing jobs. For this reason the supervisory authorities, first of all, should provide access to necessary information and advice in organizing safe working conditions.