Various work-related medical illnesses, including repetitive strain, issues brought on by workplace stress, and occupational illnesses, including infectious diseases like COVID-19, can be covered by workers’ compensation benefits. Contact Gallo, Cazort & Co. Law Firm to know which conditions are covered by workers’ compensation benefits.
Conditions covered by workers’ compensation
Employees who suffer an illness or injury at work are often eligible for workers’ compensation payments. Workers’ compensation insurance will reimburse you for injuries even if they do not occur suddenly, like losing a finger in an equipment malfunction or falling from a ladder.
Similarly, it is common for long-term workplace diseases or injuries that affect employees. Also, some employees may get infectious diseases (such as COVID-19) as a result of exposure while working.
The requirement for workers’ compensation
If you seek workers’ compensation settlements, regardless of whether you received a sudden or cumulative trauma, you have to show that the sickness or injury was related to your job—more particularly, that it “arose out of employment and occurred during the period of employment,” or “AOE/COE” in legal terms.
OSHA states that a condition is work-related if brought on by or made worse by an occurrence or exposure while performing work-related duties.
While the AOE/COE questioning can be simple when an employee is hurt due to an accident at work, it can be more difficult when they have engaged in work-related activities away from the workplace or when they gradually develop injuries or illnesses.
Compensation for occupational illnesses
Employees who get illnesses or diseases as a result of being exposed on the job are often covered by workers’ compensation. Traditional medical conditions like black lung disease (caused by exposure to coal dust) or asbestosis (caused by exposure to asbestos) are examples of work-related illnesses.
Traditional occupational illnesses, when the medical connection is well recognized and exposure outside of the workplace is limited, may be very simple to prove that work circumstances caused them.
Compensation for overuse injuries and repetitive motion
The frequency of repetitive stress or strain injuries (RSIs) is rising, and they can be extremely painful and incapacitating. And they are not only the product of all-day-long keyboarding or mouse clicking. Workers in various occupations who repeatedly execute the same physical activities, such as factory workers, home health aides, programmers, and graphic designers, can acquire repetitive stress injuries (RSIs), which can cause back discomfort, tendonitis, and other problems.
Workers’ compensation often cover the RSIs during work. But, certain jurisdictions have specific limitations on cumulative trauma claims, or they could demand that workers show better proof of the conditions link to their jobs.
