Oakland Accident Attorneys - Bay Area Accident Law Attorneys Based in Oakland

	What Is An Industrial Injury? An employee is entitled to workers’ compensation benefits for any work connected with an injury or illness - regardless of who was at fault. An injury may be the result of a single incident, such as dropping an object on the foot, or cutting a finger in a machine, or even merely bending over. An injury may be the result of work activities extending over a period of time. For example, one who has lifted heavy weights and eventually develops pain in their back or other parts of their body may have suffered an industrial injury. Other examples are loss of hearing due to noise exposure and heart disease/heart attacks due in part to on-going job stress. An injury may be the result of diseases and illnesses that are produced, contributed to, or aggravated by, the employment. For example: miners acquiring silicosis; asbestos workers suffering asbestosis; operating engineers getting San Joaquin Valley Fever from earth moving in the San Joaquin Valley; butchers contracting brucellosis from contact with infectious meat, etc. An injury may be an incident which aggravates a previous injury or condition. For example, if an employee has had prior back problems and re-injures her/his back while lifting on the job, she/he will be entitled to compensation benefits. Or a worker exposed to stress may accelerate the development of heart disease. An employee may be entitled to workers’ compensation benefits even though the injury did not occur while she/he was actually working. For example, an employee injured in the company parking lot on her/his way to or from work is considered to have incurred an injury on the job. Heart attacks off the job may be due in part to on-the-job stress.