Hazardous Employment
|
| Whether employment is "hazardous" is a distinction in workers' compensation that has lost much of its relevance in most states. Those states that retain the distinction are known to identify certain occupations or businesses that are statutorily considered to be "hazardous" or to define all employment as "hazardous" with specified exceptions. In these jurisdictions, workers' compensation is mandated for those occupations considered "hazardous."
If the question of coverage and hazardous employment arises, the first inquiry is whether the nature of the employer's business is hazardous. Reference to the state's list of statutorily identified hazardous occupations is made to determine this. However, the list is not clear-cut in that a question can arise whether the employer's business meets the occupation or business name on the list. Classification of the business as "hazardous" can sometimes only be made through a stretched and sometimes unexpected interpretation of the occupation name.
Only if the employer's business is affirmatively found to be "hazardous" will an examination of the employee's work activity be made to determine if it is hazardous. Generally, whether an employee's own occupation is hazardous is not to be construed strictly such that he is excluded from coverage unless his occupation is specifically listed. An employee whose injury was incurred while performing his employment duties, whether central or peripheral, for an employer whose business has been considered "hazardous, will likely be covered. Copyright 2010 LexisNexis, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. |