Managing Employee Injuries and Disability and Occupational Safety

W HAT I S AN I NDUSTRIAL I NJURY ?

Section 3

A. D EFINED An employee is eligible for coverage under the workers’ compensation statute if he or she sustains an injury in the course of or arising out of employment, regardless of fault. Labor Code Section 3208 defines injury as including “any injury or disease arising out of employment, including injuries to artificial members, dentures, hearing aids, eyeglasses and medical braces of any types....” Labor Code Section 5500.5 further recognizes contraction of a communicable disease, development of an occupational disease, and injury due to repetitive trauma. In addition, mental and emotional stress or illnesses are considered compensable injuries. B. A RISING OUT OF E MPLOYMENT It has generally been held that “arising out of” is the causal element and refers to the origin of the injury. The statutory test for “arising out of employment” has included the requirement that the injury be “proximately caused by the employment.” Labor Code Section 3600a(3). However, this approach was found to be much too narrow and in conflict with the objectives of the workers’ compensation statute. The modern cases have discarded most of the rules associated with the concept of “proximate cause” and have interpreted the causal element in the broadest sense. Recent decisions have liberalized the interpretation to allow an injury to be compensable if it is considered “on the job” or “work connected.” More recently, the California courts have found that liability depends on the nature of the risk. Three types of risk can be identified: industrial, neutral, and personal. Where the risk is either industrial or neutral, the injury is compensable. Where the risk is personal, i.e., related solely to the employee’s person, the injury is not compensable. Even the most neutral of risks can be included: for example, an employee at work who is accidentally struck by a stray bullet that enters the work place from next door would be covered. Injuries stemming from acts of God, travel on streets and highways, risks brought to the work place by employees (matches, firearms, etc.), and assaults arising from the nature of the employment or out of a work related controversy are frequently held to be compensable. 1. U NEXPLAINED A CCIDENTS Coverage questions arise in cases of unexplained deaths, unexplained falls, and idiopathic falls. Application of a rule called the positional risk doctrine can result in recovery, even if the cause of the fall or death is unknown, because of the employment relation that existed at the time. Given the objectives and policies of workers’ compensation legislation, the courts often resolve unexplained injury and death cases in favor of the employee.

Managing Employee Injuries, Disability and Occupational Safety ©2019 (s) Liebert Cassidy Whitmore 18