Occupational Heart Disease

Some professions are more prone than others to giving employees certain illnesses. As an example, construction workers suffer from hearing damage at higher rates than office workers; agricultural workers die from cancer, caused by pesticide exposure, in greater numbers than those in other occupations; and a third of all currently employed coal miners have a respiratory illness, according to recent research published in the U.S. National Library of Medicine. When a certain occupation is known to coincide with certain illnesses, there is more reason to believe that the relationship is due to causation, and there is also more ground for workers’ compensation to apply. If you have been injured or gotten sick on the job, you need to speak with an experienced High Point workers’ compensation attorney at once.

In Order to Receive Workers’ Compensation Benefits, You Must Prove that the Illness was Caused by Your Occupation.

For workers’ compensation to kick in for an injury, you only need to prove that the injury happened while at work. It does not matter whether the accident was your fault or another’s. If the incident occurred at work, you should be covered by workers’ compensation, provided that you work with an attorney who can help prove the extent of your injuries and pressure your employer to provide you the benefits that you deserve. Proving that the injury occurred on the job, however, is easier than proving that an illness resulted from the workplace. However, if you can prove that your occupation caused your illness, you should be able to receive workers’ compensation benefits.

Proving Causation

It is easier to prove that an illness, such as a respiratory disease, was caused by your work when there is a known relationship between that illness and a specific line of work. For example, firefighters are at very high risks of developing a respiratory illness or cancer because of the toxic chemicals and fumes they are regularly exposed to. As such, proving that a certain type of cancer was caused by years spent as a firefighter is more realistic than proving the same for an office worker. Even truck drivers have been able to receive workers’ compensation benefits for illnesses such as heart attacks, because the job is sedentary, yet stressful, according to Business Insider.

Call a Workers’ Compensation Attorney Today

If you were injured on the job or your job caused a serious illness, you deserve workers’ compensation benefits to pay for your treatment and wage replacement. Contact the High Point workers’ compensation attorneys of McAllister, Aldridge & Kreinbrink, PLLC today.