§ 97‑53. (See editor'snote on condition precedent) Occupational diseases enumerated; when due toexposure to chemicals.
The following diseases andconditions only shall be deemed to be occupational diseases within the meaningof this Article:
(1) Anthrax.
(2) Arsenic poisoning.
(3) Brass poisoning.
(4) Zinc poisoning.
(5) Manganese poisoning.
(6) Lead poisoning.Provided the employee shall have been exposed to the hazard of lead poisoningfor at least 30 days in the preceding 12 months' period; and, provided further,only the employer in whose employment such employee was last injuriouslyexposed shall be liable.
(7) Mercury poisoning.
(8) Phosphoruspoisoning.
(9) Poisoning by carbonbisulphide, menthanol, naphtha or volatile halogenated hydrocarbons.
(10) Chrome ulceration.
(11) Compressed‑airillness.
(12) Poisoning by benzol,or by nitro and amido derivatives of benzol (dinitrolbenzol, anilin, andothers).
(13) Any disease, otherthan hearing loss covered in another subdivision of this section, which isproven to be due to causes and conditions which are characteristic of andpeculiar to a particular trade, occupation or employment, but excluding allordinary diseases of life to which the general public is equally exposedoutside of the employment.
(14) Epitheliomatouscancer or ulceration of the skin or of the corneal surface of the eye due totar, pitch, bitumen, mineral oil, or paraffin, or any compound, product, orresidue of any of these substances.
(15) Radium poisoning ordisability or death due to radioactive properties of substances or to roentgenrays, X rays or exposure to any other source of radiation; provided, however,that the disease under this subdivision shall be deemed to have occurred on thedate that disability or death shall occur by reason of such disease.
(16) Blisters due to useof tools or appliances in the employment.
(17) Bursitis due tointermittent pressure in the employment.
(18) Miner's nystagmus.
(19) Bone felon due toconstant or intermittent pressure in employment.
(20) Synovitis, caused bytrauma in employment.
(21) Tenosynovitis, causedby trauma in employment.
(22) Carbon monoxidepoisoning.
(23) Poisoning bysulphuric, hydrochloric or hydrofluoric acid.
(24) Asbestosis.
(25) Silicosis.
(26) Psittacosis.
(27) Undulant fever.
(28) Loss of hearingcaused by harmful noise in the employment. The following rules shall beapplicable in determining eligibility for compensation and the period duringwhich compensation shall be payable:
a. The term"harmful noise" means sound in employment capable of producingoccupational loss of hearing as hereinafter defined. Sound of an intensity ofless than 90 decibels, A scale, shall be deemed incapable of producingoccupational loss of hearing as defined in this section.
b. "Occupationalloss of hearing" shall mean a permanent sensorineural loss of hearing inboth ears caused by prolonged exposure to harmful noise in employment. Exceptin instances of preexisting loss of hearing due to disease, trauma, orcongenital deafness in one ear, no compensation shall be payable under thissubdivision unless prolonged exposure to harmful noise in employment has causedloss of hearing in both ears as hereinafter provided.
c. No compensationbenefits shall be payable for temporary total or temporary partial disabilityunder this subdivision and there shall be no award for tinnitus or apsychogenic hearing loss.
d. An employer shallbecome liable for the entire occupational hearing loss to which his employmenthas contributed, but if previous deafness is established by a hearing test orother competent evidence, whether or not the employee was exposed to harmfulnoise within six months preceding such test, the employer shall not be liablefor previous loss so established, nor shall he be liable for any loss for whichcompensation has previously been paid or awarded and the employer shall beliable only for the difference between the percent of occupational hearing lossdetermined as of the date of disability as herein defined and the percentage ofloss established by the preemployment and audiometric examination excluding, inany event, hearing losses arising from nonoccupational causes.
e. In the evaluation ofoccupational hearing loss, only the hearing levels at the frequencies of 500,1,000, 2,000, and 3,000 cycles per second shall be considered. Hearing lossesfor frequencies below 500 and above 3,000 cycles per second are not to beconsidered as constituting compensable hearing disability.
f. The employer liablefor the compensation in this section shall be the employer in whose employmentthe employee was last exposed to harmful noise in North Carolina during aperiod of 90 working days or parts thereof, and an exposure during a period ofless than 90 working days or parts thereof shall be held not to be an injuriousexposure; provided, however, that in the event an insurance carrier has been onthe risk for a period of time during which an employee has been injuriouslyexposed to harmful noise, and if after insurance carrier goes off the risk saidemployee has been further exposed to harmful noise, although not exposed for 90working days or parts thereof so as to constitute an injurious exposure, suchcarrier shall, nevertheless, be liable.
g. The percentage ofhearing loss shall be calculated as the average, in decibels, of the thresholdsof hearing for the frequencies of 500, 1,000, 2,000, and 3,000 cycles persecond. Pure tone air conduction audiometric instruments, properly calibratedaccording to accepted national standards such as American Standards Association,Inc., (ASA), International Standards Organization (ISO), or American NationalStandards Institute, Inc., (ANSI), shall be used for measuring hearing loss. Ifmore than one audiogram is taken, the audiogram having the lowest thresholdwill be used to calculate occupational hearing loss. If the losses of hearingaverage 15 decibels (26 db if ANSI or ISO) or less in the four frequencies,such losses of hearing shall not constitute any compensable hearing disability.If the losses of hearing average 82 decibels (93 db if ANSI or ISO) or more inthe four frequencies, then the same shall constitute and be total or onehundred percent (100%) compensable hearing loss. In measuring hearingimpairment, the lowest measured losses in each of the four frequencies shall beadded together and divided by four to determine the average decibel loss. Foreach decibel of loss exceeding 15 decibels (26 db if ANSI or ISO) an allowanceof one and one‑half percent (1 1/2%) shall be made up to the maximum ofone hundred percent (100%) which is reached at 82 decibels (93 db if ANSI orISO). In determining the binaural percentage of loss, the percentage ofimpairment in the better ear shall be multiplied by five. The resulting figureshall be added to the percentage of impairment in the poorer ear, and the sumof the two divided by six. The final percentage shall represent the binauralhearing impairment.
h. There shall bepayable for total occupational loss of hearing in both ears 150 weeks ofcompensation, and for partial occupational loss of hearing in both ears suchproportion of these periods of payment as such partial loss bears to totalloss.
i. No claim forcompensation for occupational hearing loss shall be filed until after sixmonths have elapsed since exposure to harmful noise with the last employer. Thelast day of such exposure shall be the date of disability. The regular use ofemployer‑provided protective devices capable of preventing loss ofhearing from the particular harmful noise where the employee works shallconstitute removal from exposure to such particular harmful noise.
j. No considerationshall be given to the question of whether or not the ability of an employee tounderstand speech is improved by the use of a hearing aid. The North CarolinaIndustrial Commission may order the employer to provide the employee with anoriginal hearing aid if it will materially improve the employee's ability tohear.
k. No compensationbenefits shall be payable for the loss of hearing caused by harmful noise afterOctober 1, 1971, if employee fails to regularly utilize employer‑providedprotection device or devices, capable of preventing loss of hearing from theparticular harmful noise where the employee works.
(29) (See editor's noteon condition precedent) Infection with smallpox, infection with vaccinia,or any adverse medical reaction when the infection or adverse reaction is dueto the employee receiving in employment vaccination against smallpox incidentto the Administration of Smallpox Countermeasures by Health Professionals,section 304 of the Homeland Security Act, Pub. L. No. 107‑296 (Nov. 25,2002) (to be codified at 42 U.S.C. § 233(p)), or when the infection or adversemedical reaction is due to the employee being exposed to another employeevaccinated as described in this subdivision.
Occupational diseases causedby chemicals shall be deemed to be due to exposure of an employee to thechemicals herein mentioned only when as a part of the employment such employeeis exposed to such chemicals in such form and quantity, and used with suchfrequency as to cause the occupational disease mentioned in connection withsuch chemicals. (1935,c. 123; 1949, c. 1078; 1953, c. 1112; 1955, c. 1026, s. 10; 1957, c. 1396, s.6; 1963, c. 553, s. 1; c. 965; 1971, c. 547, s. 1; c. 1108, s. 1; 1973, c. 760,ss. 1, 2; 1975, c. 718, s. 4; 1987, c. 729, ss. 11, 12; 1991, c. 703, s. 10;2003‑169, s. 2.)
§ 97‑53. (See editor'snote on condition precedent) Occupational diseases enumerated; when due toexposure to chemicals.
The following diseases andconditions only shall be deemed to be occupational diseases within the meaningof this Article:
(1) Anthrax.
(2) Arsenic poisoning.
(3) Brass poisoning.
(4) Zinc poisoning.
(5) Manganese poisoning.
(6) Lead poisoning.Provided the employee shall have been exposed to the hazard of lead poisoningfor at least 30 days in the preceding 12 months' period; and, provided further,only the employer in whose employment such employee was last injuriouslyexposed shall be liable.
(7) Mercury poisoning.
(8) Phosphoruspoisoning.
(9) Poisoning by carbonbisulphide, menthanol, naphtha or volatile halogenated hydrocarbons.
(10) Chrome ulceration.
(11) Compressed‑airillness.
(12) Poisoning by benzol,or by nitro and amido derivatives of benzol (dinitrolbenzol, anilin, andothers).
(13) Any disease, otherthan hearing loss covered in another subdivision of this section, which isproven to be due to causes and conditions which are characteristic of andpeculiar to a particular trade, occupation or employment, but excluding allordinary diseases of life to which the general public is equally exposedoutside of the employment.
(14) Epitheliomatouscancer or ulceration of the skin or of the corneal surface of the eye due totar, pitch, bitumen, mineral oil, or paraffin, or any compound, product, orresidue of any of these substances.
(15) Radium poisoning ordisability or death due to radioactive properties of substances or to roentgenrays, X rays or exposure to any other source of radiation; provided, however,that the disease under this subdivision shall be deemed to have occurred on thedate that disability or death shall occur by reason of such disease.
(16) Blisters due to useof tools or appliances in the employment.
(17) Bursitis due tointermittent pressure in the employment.
(18) Miner's nystagmus.
(19) Bone felon due toconstant or intermittent pressure in employment.
(20) Synovitis, caused bytrauma in employment.
(21) Tenosynovitis, causedby trauma in employment.
(22) Carbon monoxidepoisoning.
(23) Poisoning bysulphuric, hydrochloric or hydrofluoric acid.
(24) Asbestosis.
(25) Silicosis.
(26) Psittacosis.
(27) Undulant fever.
(28) Loss of hearingcaused by harmful noise in the employment. The following rules shall beapplicable in determining eligibility for compensation and the period duringwhich compensation shall be payable:
a. The term"harmful noise" means sound in employment capable of producingoccupational loss of hearing as hereinafter defined. Sound of an intensity ofless than 90 decibels, A scale, shall be deemed incapable of producingoccupational loss of hearing as defined in this section.
b. "Occupationalloss of hearing" shall mean a permanent sensorineural loss of hearing inboth ears caused by prolonged exposure to harmful noise in employment. Exceptin instances of preexisting loss of hearing due to disease, trauma, orcongenital deafness in one ear, no compensation shall be payable under thissubdivision unless prolonged exposure to harmful noise in employment has causedloss of hearing in both ears as hereinafter provided.
c. No compensationbenefits shall be payable for temporary total or temporary partial disabilityunder this subdivision and there shall be no award for tinnitus or apsychogenic hearing loss.
d. An employer shallbecome liable for the entire occupational hearing loss to which his employmenthas contributed, but if previous deafness is established by a hearing test orother competent evidence, whether or not the employee was exposed to harmfulnoise within six months preceding such test, the employer shall not be liablefor previous loss so established, nor shall he be liable for any loss for whichcompensation has previously been paid or awarded and the employer shall beliable only for the difference between the percent of occupational hearing lossdetermined as of the date of disability as herein defined and the percentage ofloss established by the preemployment and audiometric examination excluding, inany event, hearing losses arising from nonoccupational causes.
e. In the evaluation ofoccupational hearing loss, only the hearing levels at the frequencies of 500,1,000, 2,000, and 3,000 cycles per second shall be considered. Hearing lossesfor frequencies below 500 and above 3,000 cycles per second are not to beconsidered as constituting compensable hearing disability.
f. The employer liablefor the compensation in this section shall be the employer in whose employmentthe employee was last exposed to harmful noise in North Carolina during aperiod of 90 working days or parts thereof, and an exposure during a period ofless than 90 working days or parts thereof shall be held not to be an injuriousexposure; provided, however, that in the event an insurance carrier has been onthe risk for a period of time during which an employee has been injuriouslyexposed to harmful noise, and if after insurance carrier goes off the risk saidemployee has been further exposed to harmful noise, although not exposed for 90working days or parts thereof so as to constitute an injurious exposure, suchcarrier shall, nevertheless, be liable.
g. The percentage ofhearing loss shall be calculated as the average, in decibels, of the thresholdsof hearing for the frequencies of 500, 1,000, 2,000, and 3,000 cycles persecond. Pure tone air conduction audiometric instruments, properly calibratedaccording to accepted national standards such as American Standards Association,Inc., (ASA), International Standards Organization (ISO), or American NationalStandards Institute, Inc., (ANSI), shall be used for measuring hearing loss. Ifmore than one audiogram is taken, the audiogram having the lowest thresholdwill be used to calculate occupational hearing loss. If the losses of hearingaverage 15 decibels (26 db if ANSI or ISO) or less in the four frequencies,such losses of hearing shall not constitute any compensable hearing disability.If the losses of hearing average 82 decibels (93 db if ANSI or ISO) or more inthe four frequencies, then the same shall constitute and be total or onehundred percent (100%) compensable hearing loss. In measuring hearingimpairment, the lowest measured losses in each of the four frequencies shall beadded together and divided by four to determine the average decibel loss. Foreach decibel of loss exceeding 15 decibels (26 db if ANSI or ISO) an allowanceof one and one‑half percent (1 1/2%) shall be made up to the maximum ofone hundred percent (100%) which is reached at 82 decibels (93 db if ANSI orISO). In determining the binaural percentage of loss, the percentage ofimpairment in the better ear shall be multiplied by five. The resulting figureshall be added to the percentage of impairment in the poorer ear, and the sumof the two divided by six. The final percentage shall represent the binauralhearing impairment.
h. There shall bepayable for total occupational loss of hearing in both ears 150 weeks ofcompensation, and for partial occupational loss of hearing in both ears suchproportion of these periods of payment as such partial loss bears to totalloss.
i. No claim forcompensation for occupational hearing loss shall be filed until after sixmonths have elapsed since exposure to harmful noise with the last employer. Thelast day of such exposure shall be the date of disability. The regular use ofemployer‑provided protective devices capable of preventing loss ofhearing from the particular harmful noise where the employee works shallconstitute removal from exposure to such particular harmful noise.
j. No considerationshall be given to the question of whether or not the ability of an employee tounderstand speech is improved by the use of a hearing aid. The North CarolinaIndustrial Commission may order the employer to provide the employee with anoriginal hearing aid if it will materially improve the employee's ability tohear.
k. No compensationbenefits shall be payable for the loss of hearing caused by harmful noise afterOctober 1, 1971, if employee fails to regularly utilize employer‑providedprotection device or devices, capable of preventing loss of hearing from theparticular harmful noise where the employee works.
(29) (See editor's noteon condition precedent) Infection with smallpox, infection with vaccinia,or any adverse medical reaction when the infection or adverse reaction is dueto the employee receiving in employment vaccination against smallpox incidentto the Administration of Smallpox Countermeasures by Health Professionals,section 304 of the Homeland Security Act, Pub. L. No. 107‑296 (Nov. 25,2002) (to be codified at 42 U.S.C. § 233(p)), or when the infection or adversemedical reaction is due to the employee being exposed to another employeevaccinated as described in this subdivision.
Occupational diseases causedby chemicals shall be deemed to be due to exposure of an employee to thechemicals herein mentioned only when as a part of the employment such employeeis exposed to such chemicals in such form and quantity, and used with suchfrequency as to cause the occupational disease mentioned in connection withsuch chemicals. (1935,c. 123; 1949, c. 1078; 1953, c. 1112; 1955, c. 1026, s. 10; 1957, c. 1396, s.6; 1963, c. 553, s. 1; c. 965; 1971, c. 547, s. 1; c. 1108, s. 1; 1973, c. 760,ss. 1, 2; 1975, c. 718, s. 4; 1987, c. 729, ss. 11, 12; 1991, c. 703, s. 10;2003‑169, s. 2.)
§ 97‑53. (See editor'snote on condition precedent) Occupational diseases enumerated; when due toexposure to chemicals.
The following diseases andconditions only shall be deemed to be occupational diseases within the meaningof this Article:
(1) Anthrax.
(2) Arsenic poisoning.
(3) Brass poisoning.
(4) Zinc poisoning.
(5) Manganese poisoning.
(6) Lead poisoning.Provided the employee shall have been exposed to the hazard of lead poisoningfor at least 30 days in the preceding 12 months' period; and, provided further,only the employer in whose employment such employee was last injuriouslyexposed shall be liable.
(7) Mercury poisoning.
(8) Phosphoruspoisoning.
(9) Poisoning by carbonbisulphide, menthanol, naphtha or volatile halogenated hydrocarbons.
(10) Chrome ulceration.
(11) Compressed‑airillness.
(12) Poisoning by benzol,or by nitro and amido derivatives of benzol (dinitrolbenzol, anilin, andothers).
(13) Any disease, otherthan hearing loss covered in another subdivision of this section, which isproven to be due to causes and conditions which are characteristic of andpeculiar to a particular trade, occupation or employment, but excluding allordinary diseases of life to which the general public is equally exposedoutside of the employment.
(14) Epitheliomatouscancer or ulceration of the skin or of the corneal surface of the eye due totar, pitch, bitumen, mineral oil, or paraffin, or any compound, product, orresidue of any of these substances.
(15) Radium poisoning ordisability or death due to radioactive properties of substances or to roentgenrays, X rays or exposure to any other source of radiation; provided, however,that the disease under this subdivision shall be deemed to have occurred on thedate that disability or death shall occur by reason of such disease.
(16) Blisters due to useof tools or appliances in the employment.
(17) Bursitis due tointermittent pressure in the employment.
(18) Miner's nystagmus.
(19) Bone felon due toconstant or intermittent pressure in employment.
(20) Synovitis, caused bytrauma in employment.
(21) Tenosynovitis, causedby trauma in employment.
(22) Carbon monoxidepoisoning.
(23) Poisoning bysulphuric, hydrochloric or hydrofluoric acid.
(24) Asbestosis.
(25) Silicosis.
(26) Psittacosis.
(27) Undulant fever.
(28) Loss of hearingcaused by harmful noise in the employment. The following rules shall beapplicable in determining eligibility for compensation and the period duringwhich compensation shall be payable:
a. The term"harmful noise" means sound in employment capable of producingoccupational loss of hearing as hereinafter defined. Sound of an intensity ofless than 90 decibels, A scale, shall be deemed incapable of producingoccupational loss of hearing as defined in this section.
b. "Occupationalloss of hearing" shall mean a permanent sensorineural loss of hearing inboth ears caused by prolonged exposure to harmful noise in employment. Exceptin instances of preexisting loss of hearing due to disease, trauma, orcongenital deafness in one ear, no compensation shall be payable under thissubdivision unless prolonged exposure to harmful noise in employment has causedloss of hearing in both ears as hereinafter provided.
c. No compensationbenefits shall be payable for temporary total or temporary partial disabilityunder this subdivision and there shall be no award for tinnitus or apsychogenic hearing loss.
d. An employer shallbecome liable for the entire occupational hearing loss to which his employmenthas contributed, but if previous deafness is established by a hearing test orother competent evidence, whether or not the employee was exposed to harmfulnoise within six months preceding such test, the employer shall not be liablefor previous loss so established, nor shall he be liable for any loss for whichcompensation has previously been paid or awarded and the employer shall beliable only for the difference between the percent of occupational hearing lossdetermined as of the date of disability as herein defined and the percentage ofloss established by the preemployment and audiometric examination excluding, inany event, hearing losses arising from nonoccupational causes.
e. In the evaluation ofoccupational hearing loss, only the hearing levels at the frequencies of 500,1,000, 2,000, and 3,000 cycles per second shall be considered. Hearing lossesfor frequencies below 500 and above 3,000 cycles per second are not to beconsidered as constituting compensable hearing disability.
f. The employer liablefor the compensation in this section shall be the employer in whose employmentthe employee was last exposed to harmful noise in North Carolina during aperiod of 90 working days or parts thereof, and an exposure during a period ofless than 90 working days or parts thereof shall be held not to be an injuriousexposure; provided, however, that in the event an insurance carrier has been onthe risk for a period of time during which an employee has been injuriouslyexposed to harmful noise, and if after insurance carrier goes off the risk saidemployee has been further exposed to harmful noise, although not exposed for 90working days or parts thereof so as to constitute an injurious exposure, suchcarrier shall, nevertheless, be liable.
g. The percentage ofhearing loss shall be calculated as the average, in decibels, of the thresholdsof hearing for the frequencies of 500, 1,000, 2,000, and 3,000 cycles persecond. Pure tone air conduction audiometric instruments, properly calibratedaccording to accepted national standards such as American Standards Association,Inc., (ASA), International Standards Organization (ISO), or American NationalStandards Institute, Inc., (ANSI), shall be used for measuring hearing loss. Ifmore than one audiogram is taken, the audiogram having the lowest thresholdwill be used to calculate occupational hearing loss. If the losses of hearingaverage 15 decibels (26 db if ANSI or ISO) or less in the four frequencies,such losses of hearing shall not constitute any compensable hearing disability.If the losses of hearing average 82 decibels (93 db if ANSI or ISO) or more inthe four frequencies, then the same shall constitute and be total or onehundred percent (100%) compensable hearing loss. In measuring hearingimpairment, the lowest measured losses in each of the four frequencies shall beadded together and divided by four to determine the average decibel loss. Foreach decibel of loss exceeding 15 decibels (26 db if ANSI or ISO) an allowanceof one and one‑half percent (1 1/2%) shall be made up to the maximum ofone hundred percent (100%) which is reached at 82 decibels (93 db if ANSI orISO). In determining the binaural percentage of loss, the percentage ofimpairment in the better ear shall be multiplied by five. The resulting figureshall be added to the percentage of impairment in the poorer ear, and the sumof the two divided by six. The final percentage shall represent the binauralhearing impairment.
h. There shall bepayable for total occupational loss of hearing in both ears 150 weeks ofcompensation, and for partial occupational loss of hearing in both ears suchproportion of these periods of payment as such partial loss bears to totalloss.
i. No claim forcompensation for occupational hearing loss shall be filed until after sixmonths have elapsed since exposure to harmful noise with the last employer. Thelast day of such exposure shall be the date of disability. The regular use ofemployer‑provided protective devices capable of preventing loss ofhearing from the particular harmful noise where the employee works shallconstitute removal from exposure to such particular harmful noise.
j. No considerationshall be given to the question of whether or not the ability of an employee tounderstand speech is improved by the use of a hearing aid. The North CarolinaIndustrial Commission may order the employer to provide the employee with anoriginal hearing aid if it will materially improve the employee's ability tohear.
k. No compensationbenefits shall be payable for the loss of hearing caused by harmful noise afterOctober 1, 1971, if employee fails to regularly utilize employer‑providedprotection device or devices, capable of preventing loss of hearing from theparticular harmful noise where the employee works.
(29) (See editor's noteon condition precedent) Infection with smallpox, infection with vaccinia,or any adverse medical reaction when the infection or adverse reaction is dueto the employee receiving in employment vaccination against smallpox incidentto the Administration of Smallpox Countermeasures by Health Professionals,section 304 of the Homeland Security Act, Pub. L. No. 107‑296 (Nov. 25,2002) (to be codified at 42 U.S.C. § 233(p)), or when the infection or adversemedical reaction is due to the employee being exposed to another employeevaccinated as described in this subdivision.
Occupational diseases causedby chemicals shall be deemed to be due to exposure of an employee to thechemicals herein mentioned only when as a part of the employment such employeeis exposed to such chemicals in such form and quantity, and used with suchfrequency as to cause the occupational disease mentioned in connection withsuch chemicals. (1935,c. 123; 1949, c. 1078; 1953, c. 1112; 1955, c. 1026, s. 10; 1957, c. 1396, s.6; 1963, c. 553, s. 1; c. 965; 1971, c. 547, s. 1; c. 1108, s. 1; 1973, c. 760,ss. 1, 2; 1975, c. 718, s. 4; 1987, c. 729, ss. 11, 12; 1991, c. 703, s. 10;2003‑169, s. 2.)
