Most people know that workers who get a condition known as carpal tunnel syndrome from a job that requires strenuous, repeated hand movements sometimes can get workers comp benefits. But why some other conditions are occupational diseases and payable under workers’ comp is not as well understood. Some occupational diseases are listed in the workers’ comp law, like brown lung from breathing in cotton dust, or lung disease from asbestos.
Other occupational diseases can be any condition that meets both of these requirements:
- the employee’s work causes the condition
- the employee’s job put her at increased risk of getting the condition.
Many injured workers simply give up when they don’t know what else to do with a workers’ comp claim, especially one that is as hard as an occupational disease. Pursuing a workers’ comp claim is not easy. But the surest way to make a good claim into a failure is to not follow through with it.
READ MORE on this topic from Valerie Johnson’s book, Workers Comp 101, Lessons You need to Learn Before It’s Too Late.
