Industrial disease

A work or industry related illness, generally known as occupational disease, is one that has developed as a consequence of working for somebody else or for a company. For this reason, companies must always insure themselves against work-related illnesses and organise a medical exam for all their workers before the work begins.

It is possible that during your long career you have not noticed that you have been exposed to numerous circumstances that are considered harmful to your health. Professional or industrial illnesses are those that have been developed due to a working for a third party (not self-employed).

In Spain, professional illnesses are those that are listed as such by the Ministry of Work, among them illnesses caused by chemical, physical or biological agents, the inhalation of substances harmful to your health, skin diseases or repeated exposure to carcinogenic agents.

Repeated exposure to these risk factors can lead to serious illnesses.

What could be the cause of occupational disease?

• Working conditions not permitting the employee to perform the job in acceptable and comfortable for them posture.
• Occurrence of toxic agents in the workplace.
• Indefinite period of toxicants’ presence in the body.
• Forcing employee to use their vocal cords to the extent that they become damaged.

How can you prove that what you are experiencing is in fact a work related illness?

It is important to note that not all illnesses caused by work are considered occupational diseases. In order for the illness to qualify as “work related” there must be a number of working conditions at the company, which would be considered harmful for employee’s health.

Among the rights that the employee has, there could also be economic benefits or temporary disability benefits or compensation for occupational contingency available to him them.

How can you claim compensation for occupational disease?

If you think your health problem has been acquired during the work hours, you should go to “la mutua“, which is a private insurance company in Spain (either paid by a company or an individual), as opposed to the national health system seguridad social).

In the case where the “la mutua” doesn’t confirm that the origin of illness is work related, you should seek medical advice from Social Security to assess the origin of illness and see if it is derived from work related performance or not.

If after the assessment of the patient, the physician determines that the origin of the disease comes from work related performance, you can send the doctor a Social Security report.

If you’ve been exposed to work related activities subject to harmful agents, which resulted in an illness, please know that you are entitled to claim compensation. In compensacion.es you can get all the necessary information. If you still have any questions – contact us. Our first consultation is completely free.