Occupational Illness or Injury at Work

Occupational illness or injury is any health problem from your job or employment. Exposure to toxic chemicals, working in hazardous conditions, or repetitive trauma to joints and muscles can cause occupational illnesses.

Unsafe conditions can lead to diseases and illness development. For example, prolonged exposure to asbestos at work can cause mesothelioma. Mesothelioma is rare cancer that destroys the inner layer of the internal organs, especially the lungs and chest wall.

Mineworkers have a higher risk of developing respiratory diseases like pneumoconiosis. Pneumoconiosis is a lung disease caused by prolonged exposure to dust particles in the air.

Workers in the manufacturing, construction, packaging and textile industries are at risk of developing joint problems caused by repetitive motions.

Developing a disease related to a particular occupational illness often takes a long time. Some people even develop occupational illnesses decades after exposure to hazardous conditions. Proving the connection between your disease and your employment may be difficult.

According to the CDC or Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the most common type of occupational illness is allergies and skin dermatitis. Skin conditions comprise about 15% to 20% of the reported occupational illnesses and diseases.

Respiratory diseases are the second most common type of occupational illness. The CDC estimates that about 30% of chronic obstructive pulmonary diseases, like emphysema, bronchitis, and adult asthma, may be related to exposure to hazardous chemicals and fumes at work. Infertility and pregnancy abnormalities due to chemical exposure are also common occupational illnesses. 

Some examples of occupational diseases include:

• Lung cancer – miners, coal workers, and those who work with asbestos
• Hearing loss – construction industry, call centers, and manufacturing plants with loud machine noises
• Tennis elbow or lateral epicondylitis – construction and landscape industries
• Tetanus and rabies – animal control workers
• Skin dermatitis and allergies – janitorial industry and workers who regularly handle chemicals
• Infectious diseases: tuberculosis, HIV, and hepatitis B and C viruses – healthcare industry, social service workers, laboratory workers
• Back problems: low back pain, herniated disc, slipped disc, and bulging disc – construction industry and warehouse workers
• Repetitive motion injury: arthritis – a desk job, line workers, construction, manufacturing, and packaging industries 

As an employee, you are entitled to receive workers’ compensation benefits for your injuries sustained at work. These include work-related accidents like falling off a faulty ladder, getting a part of your body caught in a machine, getting splashed with a toxic chemical, and slip-and-fall accidents.

You’re also entitled to benefits if you can’t work due to repetitive motion injuries and overuse injuries. These are very common among line workers, those who perform repetitive tasks all day, or those who work long hours at their desks.

You can also collect workers’ compensation benefits if you develop an illness or acquire a disease at work. This includes pulmonary infections caused by inhaling dangerous fumes and dust, contracting an infectious disease in the laboratory or hospital, or developing skin problems while working with hazardous chemicals.

You can file a workers’ compensation claim if your employment worsens a pre-existing medical condition. For example, if a back injury sustained at work aggravates your scoliosis.