Pennsylvania lawmakers consider bill for occupational diseases with long latency

Pennsylvania lawmakers are considering a bill that would clear legal hurdles for workers suffering from diseases with long latency periods.

S.B. 801, introduced Tuesday, stipulates that workers compensation claims for an occupational disease for which the time between exposure to the hazard in the workplace and manifestation of disease is more than 300 weeks must be filed within three years of diagnosis. Currently, workers with occupational illnesses have 300 weeks to file a claim from the last exposure to the hazard as a worker.

The bill would require the worker to prove the disease has a latency period of more than 300 weeks.

Under the proposal, the surviving family members of a worker who dies of such an occupational illness would have 300 weeks from the date of a “diagnostic document” to file for death benefits. A claim must also be filed within three years of a person’s death.