Are Occupational Diseases Covered by Workers Compensation Law?
Written by Cooper & Friedman PLLC on December 7, 2016
The Kentucky Department of Workers’ Claims is a section of the Labor Cabinet responsible for governing the workers’ compensation program. This department is responsible for regulating and processing claims to workers who are in need of financial assistance. The Governor, the Commissioner of the Department of Workers’ Claims, and the staff work on all matters regarding workers’ compensation.
This includes providing benefits, maintaining incident reports, enforcing legal coverage, and improving the status of the Kentucky Workers’ Compensation Act. The Workers’ Compensation Act protects and provides benefits to employees that are injured at work. It’s also protects those that develop diseases caused by their working environment.
Under this act, workers’ compensation is considered the “exclusive remedy” for injured workers. This means that the protection and coverage created through workers’ compensation eliminates the opportunity for employees to take legal action in civil court against his or her employer’s. However, an employee can reject coverage and sign a Form 4 Waiver. Consequently, the Workers’ Compensation Act does not cover he or she. They then have the right to sue an employer based on injuries or diseases that occurred due to working conditions.
In the state of Kentucky, almost every employer is subject to the Workers’ Compensation Act. This requires all employers to carry workers’ compensation insurance or to register as self-insured employers. This applies to all employers except for those exclusively working in the agriculture business.
Understanding Work-Related Injuries
With a brief understanding of the Workers’ Compensation Act, let’s turn to the definition of a work related injury. A work related injury can be classified as any work-related event that occurs during employment that results in trauma. All work related injuries must show medical evidence and do not cover any issues that are an effect of aging. Also, work-related injuries do not include any communicable diseases such as sore throats or flu and fever, unless the work environment is to blame.
For example, an employee can file workers’ compensation if they have experienced continuous medical symptoms due to mold growing in the workplace, but they cannot file workers’ compensation for wearing a short sleeved shirt to work outside in the middle of winter and getting a cold as a result. Lastly, the law does not cover psychological claims unless a physical injury while on the job caused them.
Work-Related Injuries and Occupational Diseases
The law covers most work related injuries, but what about occupational diseases? Fortunately, they are covered under this law when employees are exposed to hazardous and unsuitable environmental conditions. Occupational diseases often develop over an extended period of time, sometimes long after employment, and a physician must confirm that the cause is related to the work environment. Occupational diseases like pneumoconiosis, commonly called “black lung,” is most commonly found among Kentucky’s coal miners. The Workers’ Compensation Act protects those cases even though they fall under special rules.
The Worker’s Compensation Act may cover you, or someone you know, that has contracted an occupational disease over the course of employment. For more information about your rights to safe working environments in the state of Kentucky or Southern, Indiana, call the attorneys at Cooper and Friedman for a free case consultation. There are no fees for your case unless we recover.