What If the Workplace Caused Injury but There Was No Accident?
Due in part to the premise that “[t]he concept of accidental injury is founded upon unexpectedness in either cause or result,” many injuries caused by the workplace are compensable under Florida’s workers’ compensation Act despite the lack of a finite, specific event that most observers would consider to be a “literal accident.” Examples can include internal failures such as heart attacks and strokes, repetitive traumas such as carpal tunnel and degeneration of discs and bone, occupational diseases such as hepatitis and sinusitus, and harmful exposures such as black lung and asbestosis. In order to avoid transforming the workers’ compensation Act into a general health insurance policy, the law imposes elements of proof for compensability of these conditions. The burdens of proof for, and the defenses against, such occupational diseases, repetitive traumas and exposures are covered in Patrick John McGinley, Florida Workers’ Compensation, 9 Florida Practice Series sections 8:1 through 8:
Related Questions
- How does the Injury Benefit team ascertain whether an absence is caused by a pre-existing condition or an accident/incident has caused an aggravation of such a condition?
- What recourse is available for patients who acquired RSD through an injury or accident caused by another?
- What If the Workplace Caused Injury but There Was No Accident?
