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OCCUPATIONAL DISEASE

A disease resulting from exposure during employment to conditions or substances that are detrimental to health (such as black lung disease contracted by miners).

An individual suffering from an occupational disease can seek compensation for his or her condition under WORKERS' COMPENSATION statutes or such federal legislation as the Black Lung Benefits Act of 1972, 30 U.S.C.A. § 901 et seq. Worker's compensation statutes typically require that the worker contract the disease during the course of employment; that the disease be peculiar to the worker's job by virtue of how it is caused and manifested or how job conditions result in a particular hazard, unlike employment in general; and that there be a substantially greater risk of contracting the disease or condition on the job in a different, more serious manner, than in general public experiences.