Road Construction Workers’ Exposure to Toxic Substances

Chicago Occupational Illness Lawyers for Road Construction Workers

Chemical exposures are common in road construction work. Toxic substances to which you may be exposed regularly while doing this challenging work include mercury, lead, flame retardants, PVC, bacteria, and pesticides. Exposure can lead to you developing cancer, neurological illness, reproductive illness, birth defects, and cognitive impairment. If you were harmed by exposure to toxic substances as a road construction worker, you should call the trustworthy Chicago workers’ compensation attorneys of nap_names id=”FIRM-NAME-1″] about your occupational illness claim. We have more than 60 years of experience advocating for workers who have been made sick or who were injured on the job.

Chicago Road Construction Workers’ Exposure to Toxic Substances

Road contractors, along with other construction workers, may experience 10 times as many fatal occupational illnesses compared with fatal occupational injuries. The risk of developing a disease over a lifetime spent working in construction is 2-3 times higher than it is for non-construction workers. Even so awareness and management are limited at construction sites, where supervisors are typically more aware of the potential for injuries.

One reasons for occupational illness in Chicago road construction is exposure to toxic materials. These materials may be used to harden or coat concrete, waterproof, cure concrete, create molds or modify mortar. Sometimes workers don’t realize they’ve been exposed to chemicals at all until they develop a medical condition. This can make it more challenging to trace the exposure to work conditions. You could be, for example, exposed to lead, which is dangerous even in small doses, and is still commonly used in a number of processes.

Occupational Illness Benefits

Under the Illinois Occupational Disease Act, a disease is considered to arise from your job if, once all circumstances are considered, there is a causal relationship between work conditions and the occupational disease, and this can be seen by a rational person. Any kind of disease caused by your work could make you eligible for benefits. Occupational diseases that are relatively common include asthma, COPD, dermatitis, reproductive disorders, hearing loss, tuberculosis, and musculoskeletal disorders.

Types of Benefits for Work Illness

If you were made sick directly because of your job, you may be eligible for benefits. The benefits also apply to your dependents and include medical benefits, surgical benefits, hospital care, burial costs, rehabilitative care and any other benefits provided under the Illinois Workers’ Compensation Act.

You should not assume a denial of your work illness benefits is legitimate. Our Chicago attorneys will need to show a work relationship, but there are a number of circumstances in which insurers, protecting profits, fail to pay benefits in response to a valid claim. You are more likely to have success with our experienced counsel by your side.

Third Party Lawsuit

In some instances, occupational diseases are sustained because of a third party’s conduct. When, for example, you develop an occupational disease because you were exposed to toxic substances in the course of an equipment malfunction, you could bring a lawsuit for damages against a manufacturer. Unlike a claim for benefits, this type of lawsuit would require our attorneys to prove fault for the disease.

Proving fault may involve proof of negligence, strict liability, or intentional misconduct. While you are limited in recovering benefits, including a limitation on recovering disability benefits, you can obtain the full spectrum of compensatory damages if our lawyers are able to establish a third party’s liability.

Call Trustworthy Chicago Workers’ Compensation Lawyers

If you are a road construction worker who suffered illnesses or disease and suspect it was because of work conditions, you should call us to determine whether you have a viable claim. Our seasoned attorneys have more than 60 years of experience advocating for workers in claims in Rockford, Aurora, Champaign, and Quincy, along with Winnebago, Kane, Sangamon, Cook, and Adams Counties. Our law firm has the experience and knowledge to represent you in a third party lawsuit or Social Security Disability Insurance (SSDI) claim arising out of the same injuries. Call us at 312-724-5846 or complete our online form.