occupational disease
A factory worker is diagnosed with an occupational disease after years of exposure.
Noun: - A disease or disability that is directly caused by the specific conditions or hazards of a person's job. It typically develops from long-term exposure to harmful substances or from the continuous, repetitive performance of certain work-related tasks.
This term is used specifically in legal, medical, and workplace safety contexts to describe illnesses contracted as a direct result of one's occupation.
- Noun:
- Coal miners are at high risk for pneumoconiosis, a well-known occupational disease.
- Repetitive strain injury is considered an occupational disease for many office workers and assembly line operators.
- The company was held liable after the worker developed an occupational disease from years of exposure to toxic chemicals without proper protection.
- Legal Context: The term is crucial for determining workers' compensation eligibility. A condition must be proven to be primarily caused by work to be classified as an occupational disease.
- The court recognized his hearing loss as an occupational disease due to decades of working in a noisy factory.
- Work-related illness: A broader term that may include conditions aggravated by, but not solely caused by, work.
- Industrial disease: A synonym often used in British English, emphasizing diseases common in industrial settings.
- Industrial disease
- Work-related disease
- Job-induced illness
- "To contract an occupational disease": To develop or acquire a disease from one's job.
- Several employees contracted an occupational disease from the asbestos in the old building.
This term is distinct from a workplace accident or injury. An occupational disease develops gradually over time due to exposure or repetitive activity, rather than from a single, sudden event.
A factory worker is diagnosed with an occupational disease after years of exposure.
- disease or disability resulting from conditions of employment (usually from long exposure to a noxious substance or from continuous repetition of certain acts)