Industrial Injuries Disability Benefit and Prescribed Diseases

The legislation recognises that certain occupations carry with them the risk of disease. Some diseases have therefore been prescribed as likely to have been caused by the work that a person does. Some of the more obvious examples of this linkage are pneumoconosis linked to "work underground in any mine in which one of the objects of the mining operations is the getting of any mineral", another good example is ostoarthritis of the hip which is linked to "work in agriculture as a farmer or farm worker for a period of, or periods which amount in aggregate to, ten years or more."

With regard to the difference between accidents and diseases Decision Makers are asked to distinguish between "claims for diseases caused by an industrial accident where the disease would have been prescribed for the employed earner because of the occupation being carried out at the time of the accident" which should be treated as diseases and "claims where the disease stems from a personal injury sustained by the claimant in an industrial accident rather than from the accident itself" which should be treated as accidents". The guidance recognises that some diseases produce sequelae which are symptoms that remain after the disease has run its course. Decision Makers are instructed to view sequelae as if they are the disease itself."

Any claim with regards to a prescribed disease will be subject to the following questions-

• Whether the disease for which benefit is claimed is a prescribed disease.
• Whether the disease is prescribed in relation to the employed earner (the prescription question): This involves considering not only the nature of that person's employment, but also the question whether the employment is employed earner's employment.
• Whether the claimant is suffering from or has suffered from the disease (the diagnosis question).
• Whether the disease is due to the nature of the employed earner's employment. This depends mainly on medical evidence, but it also involves considering the type of employed earner's employment and the date of onset(5. below) where a presumption exists that the disease claimed is due to the nature of the employed earner's employment.
• What was the date of onset of the disease.
• Whether the claimant has suffered a loss of faculty as a result of the relevant prescribed disease. A loss of faculty is commonly defined as any pathological condition or any loss of the normal physical or mental function of an organ or part of the body.
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Decision Makers may also consider whether the current symptoms arise from a "fresh" disease or a flare up of a previous attack.

The DWP guidance recognises that some claimants may have medical conditions which are not listed as prescribed diseases but which may have arisen as a result of contracting a prescribed disease.

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