Sometimes, through no fault of their own employees develop a work related illness which may have severe consequences and affect their ability to continue to work and their quality of life. There are many different types of work related illness. Some examples are:
- Work related stress
- Repetitive strain injury
- Skin conditions
- Deafness, tinnitus and noise induced hearing loss
Work related stress: According to the Health and Safety Executive (www.hse.gov.uk) “work related stress develops because a person is unable to cope with the demands being placed on them. Stress, including work related stress, can be a significant cause of illness and is known to be linked with high levels of sickness absence, staff turnover and other issues such as more errors.”
Repetitive strain injury: According to the NHS Choices website repetitive strain injury (RSI) is “a general term used to describe the pain felt in muscles, nerves and tendons caused by repetitive movement and overuse. It’s also called work-related upper limb disorder or non-specific upper limb pain.” Repetitive Strain Injury can develop because of the job that you do – see our compensation calculator to find out more about the compensation that may be available for work-related upper limb disorders.
Skin conditions: Dermatitis is an unpleasant skin condition usually associated with work involving solvents, chemicals, oils, cleaning agents, bleaches, dyes and other irritants, where employees’ skin is exposed to these substances on a regular basis. You can develop this condition after a brief exposure to these substances or after a prolonged exposure to an irritant, such as those mentioned above. Generally, people who become sensitive to an allergen will remain allergic to it and suffer from pain and irritation on exposure to it for the rest of their lives. If you have worked with any of those mentioned above or others such as flours, soaps, oils, fresh flowers or brick dust and have experienced redness of the skin, swelling, itching, blotchiness, irritation or scarring, then you may be suffering.
Loss of hearing or tinnitus is usually associated with heavy industry where employees were exposed to sustained periods of loud noise. But the injury can also be caused by many other types of work and often the symptoms of difficulty in hearing or a ringing or buzzing in the ears (tinnitus) don’t appear until years later. Do you have difficulty hearing conversation / TV / whispers, or have people said that you shout or speak very loudly? If you worked in a noisy environment for more than 5 years and were not offered ear protection then you may be eligible for compensation.
If you have been injured whilst at work, or because of your working environment, and it wasn’t your fault, use our Compensation Calculator to find out how much your claim may be worth. Alternatively contact our team for a free no-obligation evaluation of your case to find out if you can make a claim.
