COVID-19 Legal Update: South Carolina

Workers' Compensation Administrative board/ commission

How does the state define an occupational disease?

§ 42-11-10 (A) "Occupational disease" means a disease arising out of and in the course of employment that is due to hazards in excess of those ordinarily incident to employment and is peculiar to the occupation in which the employee is engaged. A disease is considered an occupational disease only if caused by a hazard recognized as peculiar to a particular trade, process, occupation, or employment as a direct result of continuous exposure to the normal working conditions of that particular trade, process, occupation, or employment. In a claim for an occupational disease, the employee shall establish that the occupational disease arose directly and naturally from exposure in this State to the hazards peculiar to the particular employment by a preponderance of the evidence.

(B) No disease shall be considered an occupational disease when it:
(1) does not result directly and naturally from exposure in this State to the hazards peculiar to the particular employment;
(2) results from exposure to outside climatic conditions;
(3) is a contagious disease resulting from exposure to fellow employees or from a hazard to which the workman would have been equally exposed outside of his employment;
(4) is one of the ordinary diseases of life to which the general public is equally exposed, unless such disease follows as a complication and a natural incident of an occupational disease or unless there is continuous exposure peculiar to the occupation itself which makes such disease a hazard inherent in such occupation;
(5) is any disease of the cardiac, pulmonary, or circulatory system not resulting directly from abnormal external gaseous pressure exerted upon the body or the natural entrance into the body through the skin or natural orifices thereof of foreign organic or inorganic matter under circumstances peculiar to the employment and the processes utilized therein; or
(6) is any chronic disease of the skeletal joints.
(C) As used in this section, "medical evidence" means expert opinion or testimony stated to a reasonable degree of medical certainty, documents, records, or other material that is offered by a licensed health care provider.
(D) No compensation shall be payable for any occupational disease unless the employee suffers a disability as described in Section 42-9-10, 42-9-20, or 42-9-30.

HISTORY: 1962 Code Section 72-251; 1952 Code Section 72-251; 1949 (46) 565; 2007 Act No. 111, Pt I, Section 24, eff July 1, 2007, applicable to injuries that occur on or after that date.