What Are The Most Common Types Of Occupational Diseases That Lead To Serious Workers Compensation Claims?

November 16, 2022    Personal Injury Lawyers Perth
What Are The Most Common Types Of Occupational Diseases That Lead To Serious Workers Compensation Claims?

Occupational diseases affect millions of workers worldwide and have a huge impact on society and businesses. These are common diseases, but there are also means to avoid them. Around $42,000 costs on average on related incidents of occupational diseases per employee.

The figure includes losses such as productivity loss, sales loss, equipment damage, administrative expenses, medical expenses and other costs related to the worker. The financial expense is only a part of the problem, but this only indicates the impact this disease has. Safety and hygiene are a must in workplaces to avoid these diseases. Before hiring an occupational disease lawyer, read the blog below to learn more about the different occupational diseases.

What Is An Occupational Disease, And What Is Its Impact?

Occupational disease is a disease that refers to the health problems that are produced or increased due to conditions in the work environment. There are two criteria that occupational diseases meet, and they are as follows:

  • A strengthened relationship between the disease, the work environment and activity.
  • The frequency of the disease among the population exposed to it is higher than the general population.

In the United States alpine, the medical costs linked with occupational diseases are around $67 million every year. This is a huge amount but is mainly exceeded by the indirect costs resulting from administrative expenses, lost sales, equipment/ vehicle damage, and workers’ compensation. The total cost is around $ 250 billion each year, which is more than all cancer treatment costs combined.

Occupational diseases are known to affect different countries around the world unevenly. For instance, in Poland, the overall costs linked with occupational diseases are around 10,4% of their GDP, and this is the country where the rate is the highest. You can just understand how much occupational diseases affect the people out there.

What Are Some Common Occupational Diseases?

Asthma and hearing loss are two of the most common occupational diseases. While musculoskeletal, skin and infectious diseases can be considered as close runner-ups. It is not hard to avoid them when you have the right workplace processes, equipment and training.

Some of the occupational diseases are explained in detail:

Hearing loss

Hearing loss is indeed one of the most common professional diseases in the world, and almost 18% of the working population is exposed to the most dangerous noise levels. There are no boundaries for hearing loss in industries, which can affect young and old workers. The fight against this disease is challenging as it usually sets in without obvious physical symptoms or pain.

But once this disease occurs, this disease cannot be reversed and has bad consequences for an employee, their family and the employer. Before hiring compensation lawyer, know the reasons why

  • There is reduced quality of life due to social isolation.
  • Bad communication with family members, co-workers and friends.
  • There are chances of an increase in accidents due to having a lesser ability to monitor the work environment for information like equipment sounds and warning signs.
  • A loss of productivity.

One of the ways to prevent this type of disease is to promote a quiet workspace. The employer can use quiet and modern equipment that employees can use, which can lessen the chances of someone suffering from hearing loss.

Infectious diseases

Around the first half of 2021, the Center for Disease Control (CDC) noticed that there was an outbreak of around four cases of salmonella and another Listeria case in the United States and different parts of the world. There has been a major reappearance of infectious diseases all around the world, and the consequences have been devastating.

Hotels, hospitals, restaurants, food catering/ processing and retailers play an important role as they have direct contact with medicines or food. For instance, healthcare experts are at risk of being in contact with tuberculosis, hepatitis B and C and HIV when working with patients or infectious materials.

There is a way to prevent infectious diseases, and the first thing is to opt for regular microbiological water analysis to wash utensils without direct contact with the worker or interference. You also need to prefer equipment that is washed at high temperatures, like some modern equipment.

Asthma

Asthma can be considered as one of the most dominant occupational diseases in most industrialized countries. It accounts for around 15% of new cases in adults, and this disease results in around 38,000 deaths every year. The majority of the cases are caused by sensitizing substances like chemicals that can lead to allergies.

An example is chromium, which is used in leather products like gloves, bags, and shoes to allow for more flexibility. But when this element comes in contact with your skin, it can cause allergic reactions. As URI reduced the use of chromium in 2014, around 11,000 new allergy cases have been avoided each year.

There is a way to prevent this disease, and that is to improve indoor air quality in factories and offices. You must frequently measure the air quality and replace your old polluting equipment. In the washing area, equipment may emit particles when the washing is used after each cycle. In this case, the washing machine may need to be replaced or repaired.

Musculoskeletal And Skin Diseases

Before contacting an occupational disease lawyer for help, you must know about these two diseases. Both musculoskeletal and skin diseases are prevalent in workplaces and can account for various reasons. When people come in contact with certain chemicals, they can be victims of skin diseases such as rashes and infections. Musculoskeletal disease like back pain is common, and this is a disease that develops with time and cannot be detected.

A way to reduce musculoskeletal diseases is to use equipment that favors ergonomics at work and to reduce skin diseases, utensils or equipment that needs to be washed at high temperatures. Use only the equipment that is washed at a suitable temperature.

Contact Personal Injury Lawyers Perth

If you have been the victim of an occupational disease due to your employer’s negligence, you will need the help of a lawyer to acquire compensation. Contact Personal Injury Lawyers Perth to access the best occupational disease lawyers who can help you with compensation claims and ensure you are compensated.

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