# Occupational Diseases Aggregated by Superinsight from public-domain sources, as of 2026-09-02. Domain: wc/ny. --- ## WKC § 37 — Definitions {#37} *N.Y. Workers' Comp. Law § 37* Official source: _NYS Open Legislation, revision of 2014-09-22._ § 37. Definitions. Whenever used in this article: 1. "Disability" means the state of being disabled from earning full wages at the work at which the employee was last employed. 2. "Disablement" means the act of becoming so disabled as defined in subdivision one. --- ## WKC § 38 — Disablement treated as accident {#38} *N.Y. Workers' Comp. Law § 38* Official source: _NYS Open Legislation, revision of 2014-09-22._ § 38. Disablement treated as accident. The disablement of an employee resulting from an occupational disease described in subdivision two of section three shall be treated as the happening of an accident within the meaning of this chapter and the procedure and practice provided in this chapter shall apply to all proceedings under this article, except where specifically otherwise provided herein. --- ## WKC § 39 — Right to compensation {#39} *N.Y. Workers' Comp. Law § 39* Official source: _NYS Open Legislation, revision of 2014-09-22._ § 39. Right to compensation. If an employee is disabled or dies and his disability or death is caused by one of the diseases mentioned in subdivision two of section three, and the disease is due to the nature of the corresponding employment as described in such subdivision in which such employee was engaged and was contracted therein, he or his dependents shall be entitled to compensation for the duration of his disablement or for his death in accordance with the provisions of articles two and three of this chapter, provided, however, that if it shall be determined that an employee so disabled is able to earn wages at another occupation which shall be neither unhealthful nor injurious, and such wages do not equal his full wages prior to the date of his disablement, the compensation payable shall be computed pursuant to the provisions of article two of this chapter. --- ## WKC § 41 — Examining physicians {#41} *N.Y. Workers' Comp. Law § 41* Official source: _NYS Open Legislation, revision of 2014-09-22._ § 41. Examining physicians. The chairman shall appoint one or more physicians whose duty it shall be to examine any claimant under this article and to make a report in such form as the chairman may require. --- ## WKC § 42 — Date of disablement {#42} *N.Y. Workers' Comp. Law § 42* Official source: _NYS Open Legislation, revision of 2014-09-22._ § 42. Date of disablement. For the purposes of this article the date of disablement shall be such date as the board may determine on the hearing on the claim. --- ## WKC § 44 — Liability of employer {#44} *N.Y. Workers' Comp. Law § 44* Official source: _NYS Open Legislation, revision of 2014-09-22._ § 44. Liability of employer. The total compensation due shall be recoverable from the employer who last employed the employee in the employment to the nature of which the disease was due and in which it was contracted. If, however, such disease, except silicosis or other dust disease and compressed air illness or its sequelae, was contracted while such employee was in the employment of a prior employer, the employer who is made liable for the total compensation as provided by this section, may appeal to the board for an apportionment of such compensation among the several employers who since the contraction of such disease shall have employed such employee in the employment to the nature of which the disease was due. Such apportionment shall be proportioned to the time such employee was employed in the service of such employers, and shall be determined only after a hearing, notice of the time and place of which shall have been given to every employer alleged to be liable for any portion of such compensation. If the board finds that any portion of such compensation is payable by an employer prior to the employer who is made liable for the total compensation as provided by this section, it shall make an award accordingly in favor of the last employer, and such award may be enforced in the same manner as an award for compensation. --- ## WKC § 44-A — Liability of employer; silicosis or other dust diseases {#44-A} *N.Y. Workers' Comp. Law § 44-A* Official source: _NYS Open Legislation, revision of 2014-09-22._ § 44-a. Liability of employer; silicosis or other dust diseases. The employer in whose employment an employee was last exposed to an injurious dust hazard shall be liable for the payments required by this chapter when disability or death of the employee shall be due to silicosis or other dust disease. --- ## WKC § 44-B — Liability of employer; compressed air illness {#44-B} *N.Y. Workers' Comp. Law § 44-B* Official source: _NYS Open Legislation, revision of 2014-09-22._ § 44-b. Liability of employer; compressed air illness. With respect to claims filed after July first, nineteen hundred sixty-one, for compensation on account of disability or death resulting from compressed air illness or its sequelae, the employer who is made liable for the total compensation as provided by section forty-four of this article, shall not be entitled to an apportionment of such compensation among prior employers. --- ## WKC § 45 — Notice to employers {#45} *N.Y. Workers' Comp. Law § 45* Official source: _NYS Open Legislation, revision of 2014-09-22._ § 45. Notice to employers. The employer to whom notice of death or disability is to be given, or against whom claim is to be made by the employee, shall be the employer who last employed the employee in the employment to the nature of which the disease was due and such notice and claim shall be deemed seasonable as against prior employers. The requirements as to notice as to occupational disease and death resulting therefrom shall be the same as required in section eighteen of this chapter, except that the notice shall be given to the employer within two years after the disablement or after the claimant knew or should have known that the disease is due to the nature of the employment, whichever is the later date. --- ## WKC § 46 — Information; penalty {#46} *N.Y. Workers' Comp. Law § 46* Official source: _NYS Open Legislation, revision of 2014-09-22._ § 46. Information; penalty. The employee or his dependents, if so requested, shall furnish the last employer or the board with such information as to the names and addresses of all his other employers during the said twelve months, as he or they may possess; and if such information is not furnished, or is not sufficient to enable such last employer to take proceedings against a prior employer under section forty-four, unless it be established that the disease actually was contracted while the employee was in his employment, such last employer shall not be liable to pay compensation, or, if such information is not furnished or is not sufficient to enable such last employer to take proceedings against other employers under section forty-four, such last employer shall be liable only for such part of the total compensation as under the particular circumstances the board may deem just; but a false statement in the information furnished as aforesaid shall not impair the workman's rights unless the last employer is prejudiced thereby. --- ## WKC § 47 — Presumption as to the cause of disease {#47} *N.Y. Workers' Comp. Law § 47* Official source: _NYS Open Legislation, revision of 2014-09-22._ § 47. Presumption as to the cause of disease. If the employee, at or immediately before the date of disablement, was employed in any process mentioned in the second column of the schedule of diseases in subdivision two of section three of this chapter, and his or her disease is the disease in the first column of such schedule set opposite the description of the process, the disease presumptively shall be deemed to have been due to the nature of that employment. Any exposure to the hazards of compressed air after July first, nineteen hundred forty-six shall be presumed, in the absence of substantial evidence to the contrary, to be injurious exposure. Any exposure to the hazards of harmful dust in this state for a period of sixty days after September first, nineteen hundred thirty-five, shall be presumed, in the absence of substantial evidence to the contrary, to be an injurious exposure. With respect to any state or local correction officer as defined in subdivision twenty-five of section 2.10 of the criminal procedure law, safety and security officer employed by the office of mental health, security hospital treatment assistant employed by the office of mental health, any uniformed court officer or court clerk of the unified court system having the powers of peace officer, the court reporter or the court interpreter, an exposure to the blood or bodily fluid of an individual, incarcerated, confined or otherwise, during the course of his or her employment that is reported in writing to such correction officer's, safety and security officer's, security hospital treatment assistant's, uniformed court officer's, court clerk's, court reporter's or court interpreter's employer within twenty-four hours of such exposure, shall be presumed, in the absence of substantial evidence to the contrary, to be an injurious exposure if, subsequent to such exposure, such correction officer, safety and security officer, security hospital treatment assistant, uniformed court officer, court clerk, court reporter or court interpreter is diagnosed with a blood-borne disease, including, but not limited to hepatitis C. --- ## WKC § 48 — Diseases which are accidents {#48} *N.Y. Workers' Comp. Law § 48* Official source: _NYS Open Legislation, revision of 2014-09-22._ § 48. Diseases which are accidents. Nothing in this article shall affect the rights of an employee to recover compensation in respect to a disease to which this article does not apply if the disease is an accidental personal injury within the meaning of subdivision seven of section two of this chapter.