Workers' Compensation for Heart Attacks

Heart attacks are an incredibly serious issue and can happen anywhere, including your workplace. The victims can face serious financial hardship as a result, but are they covered by workers' comp?

In this article, we will explore how heart attacks affect workers and their ability to receive proper compensation after suffering an on-the-job heart attack. We will also look at ways employers can better protect themselves and their employees against these life-threatening events.

Some facts about heart attacks in the workplace

OSHA reports that in the United States, 10,000 workplace-related cases of sudden cardiac arrest arise annually out of approximately 220,000 total occurrences. This creates significant challenges for employers and employees alike who must navigate the complexities of workers' compensation as they seek to recover.

The American Heart Association asserts that an alarming 350,000 individuals in the US lose their lives each year due to cardiac arrest. Similarly, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), about 805,000 Americans experience a heart attack annually. Of these,

• About 1 in 5 heart attacks is silent; the damage is done, but the person is not aware of it.

• 605,000 are a first heart attack

• 200,000 happen to people who have already had a heart attack

Taking these facts into consideration, along with the aging workplace population, it is becoming ever more pertinent to ask if workers' compensation encompasses heart attack-related losses.

Heart attacks and their impact on workers

Heart attacks are incredibly serious cardiac events that can result in permanent heart damage, disability, and even death. According to the World Health Organization, these can occur when blood flow to the heart is blocked by a buildup of cholesterol-filled plaque in the heart’s arteries. This can cause pain or discomfort in the chest, shortness of breath, nausea, dizziness, or indigestion.

When heart attacks happen on the job or as a result of work-related activities such as heavy lifting or strenuous physical labor, workers may be eligible for workers' compensation benefits under certain circumstances. In some states, workers with pre-existing heart conditions may also qualify for compensation if their existing heart condition was aggravated by their employment.

California Workers' Compensation

Demonstrating that your heart attack was brought on by work, whether due to exhaustive physical effort, strain, or conditions while working regularly with no personal factors being the cause can become complex.

California operates under a "no-fault" workers' compensation doctrine. This means an employee is not required to demonstrate the injury was caused by someone else in order to receive benefits, as long as it's related to their job duties. As such, they are eligible for these advantages regardless of culpability or innocence.

According to state law, an employee does not need their employment or work-related stress to be the only contributing factor for a heart attack in order for it to qualify for workers comp; rather, all that is required is that the worker's job was a “substantial contributing cause”.

Therefore, to be eligible for workers' compensation, you must demonstrate that the heart attack was a direct result of an extraordinary physical stressor that occurred during regular working hours and couldn't have been caused by external factors.

External factors such as diet and overall physical condition may be used to deny certain benefits, but if you can demonstrate that your job caused a situation of distress, leading to the aggravation of an existing condition and ultimately causing a heart attack, then you may be eligible for workers’ compensation benefits.

Getting a qualified workers’ compensation specialist can help with understanding your case and put you on the right path to getting the benefits you need.

Prevention Tips

It is also important for employers to understand how heart attack prevention fits into workplace health and safety policies. By providing employees with proper resources, employers can help reduce stress levels in the workplace and lower heart attack risk among their employees.

It's important for both parties to stay informed about how these events could affect them so that they can respond appropriately should one occur on the job. Taking preventive measures can go a long way towards reducing heart attack risks among employees.

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Cole, Fisher, Cole, O’Keefe + Mahoney is Central California’s leading workers’ compensation and social security disability law firm. With over 30 years of successful experience, we are committed to securing maximum benefits for our clients in the Fresno, California area. Schedule a free consultation today.