Occupational Disease Act

An occupational disease act is a state law that provides compensation benefits for diseases caused by work, such as asbestosis and mesothelioma, as distinct from injuries caused by accidents. Some states have a separate occupational disease statute; others cover work-related diseases inside their main workers' compensation law.

Origin

Early workers' compensation laws mostly covered accidental injuries, and courts often held that slowly developing diseases were not accidents. During the 1920s and 1930s, and especially after the silicosis crisis of the 1930s, many states added occupational disease coverage, sometimes through separate acts that remain in place in states such as Illinois and Pennsylvania.

Significance in Asbestos Context

For an asbestos worker, the occupational disease law in the state where they worked usually determines what benefits the employer's insurer owes and how the claim is filed. These laws often have their own rules that matter for asbestos: special limitations periods measured from diagnosis or from when the worker knew the disease was work-related, limits on claims filed long after employment ended, the last injurious exposure rule, and death benefits for dependents. Like ordinary compensation, an occupational disease act is usually the exclusive remedy against the employer. Historians and plaintiffs have pointed to documents suggesting that industry groups favored bringing asbestosis and silicosis under these acts in the 1930s because limited compensation was preferable to lawsuits; defendants describe the laws as a reasonable public solution. Because every state's act differs, the right state and the right deadlines need to be checked early.

Example Sentence

Because his exposure was at a plant in Illinois, his asbestosis claim was filed under that state's occupational diseases act rather than its general compensation law.

Related Terms

Workers’ Compensation, Exclusive Remedy, Last Injurious Exposure Rule, Occupational Disease, Statute of Limitation, Silicosis

Notes

• Occupational disease deadlines can be short and differ from lawsuit deadlines; ask about them as soon as you are diagnosed.
• The state where you worked, not where you live now, usually decides which law applies.