Injuries & Illnesses Covered
What actually counts as a work injury: back injuries and repetitive strain, occupational disease, toxic exposure and hearing loss, mental-health and stress claims, heart attacks, assaults, and the hard cases — your commute, breaks, and company events. The test is whether the injury arose out of and in the course of your employment.
All Injuries & Illnesses Covered guides
- Lead and Heavy Metal Exposure at Work
Lead, cadmium, mercury or arsenic exposure at work can be a workers' comp claim - here's how these lab-value injuries get proven, reported, and paid.
- Mental Health and Stress Claims in Workers' Comp
Workers' comp treats mental health claims differently depending on the cause. Here's how the three categories work and why your state's rule decides the outcome.
- PTSD and Mental Injury Claims for First Responders
Many states now have special workers' comp rules that let police, fire, EMS, dispatch, and corrections workers claim PTSD - here's how the presumptions work and what to do.
- Occupational Hearing Loss Claims
Noise-induced hearing loss is generally a covered workers' comp injury. How the claim, the audiogram, and the deadline actually work.
- Occupational Asthma and Lung Disease From Work
Wheezing worse at work, better on days off? Occupational asthma and lung disease are often covered by workers' comp - here's how the proof and the deadline rules work.
- Silica Dust and Silicosis Claims
Silicosis from stone, construction, or foundry dust is generally a covered occupational disease under workers' comp. The filing clock usually starts at diagnosis, not first exposure.
- Injuries While Working From Home
Hurt working from home? Comp can still cover you, but the rules are murkier. Here's the test, the gray areas, and how to prove your claim.
- Work-Related Skin Conditions and Chemical Exposure
A rash from work chemicals can be a covered occupational disease, not "just skin." Dermatitis, patch testing, SDS proof, deadlines, and your claim.
- Workplace Violence and Assault Injuries
If you were assaulted at work, workers' comp often covers it when the job is connected to the attack. Here is the framework, and why your state's rules decide the rest.
- Heat Illness and Heat Stroke at Work
Heat exhaustion and heat stroke on the job are usually covered by workers' comp. What to do, deadlines that vary by state, and your safety rights.
- Construction Accident Claims
Construction accident claims explained: workers' comp, third-party lawsuits, OSHA violations, and how falls, struck-by, and electrocution injuries are handled.
- COVID-19 and Infectious Disease Claims at Work
COVID-19 and other infectious diseases can qualify for workers' comp if your job raised your exposure risk above the public's — here's how these claims work.
- Back Injuries and Workers' Comp
Hurt your back at work? How the aggravation rule, the first medical report, utilization review, and MMI shape a back injury workers' comp claim.
- Injuries at Company Events, Parties, and Breaks
Hurt at a work party, on the company team, in the break room, or in the lot? Here's how workers' comp decides if you were "at work."
- The Going-and-Coming Rule: Injuries During Your Commute
Your ordinary commute usually isn't covered by workers' comp - but several exceptions can change that. Here's how they work.
- Black Lung Benefits for Coal Miners
Federal black lung benefits are a separate, DOL-run system - not state workers' comp. How miners and survivors qualify, the free pulmonary exam, and why it may not be too late to file.
- Asbestos Exposure and Mesothelioma Claims at Work
Diagnosed decades after asbestos exposure at work? You may still have a claim. How the discovery rule works, why deadlines vary by state, and what to do now.
- Firefighter Cancer and First-Responder Presumptions
Firefighter cancer presumption laws flip the burden of proof - but coverage, conditions, and deadlines vary sharply by state. Here's how to check yours.
- Toxic Chemical Exposure at Work Claims
Hurt by solvents, silica, asbestos, or fumes at work? Learn how workers' comp and third-party claims work, and why proof and timing matter.
- Repetitive Stress and Occupational Illness Claims
Carpal tunnel, back injury, hearing loss, and toxic exposure claims explained: workers' comp vs. third-party suits, proof, and the discovery-rule deadline.
- Heart Attacks and Strokes at Work: Are They Covered?
Sometimes. Workers' comp covers a heart attack or stroke at work only if the evidence shows work caused or contributed to it - and the causation rule varies by state.