                                 CODE OF VIRGINIA

&#8220;OCCUPATIONAL DISEASE&#8221; DEFINED (§ 65.2-400)

A. As used in this title, unless the context clearly indicates otherwise, the
term &#8220;occupational disease&#8221; means a disease arising out of and in
the course of employment, but not an ordinary disease of life to which the
general public is exposed outside of the employment.

B. A disease shall be deemed to arise out of the employment only if there is
apparent to the rational mind, upon consideration of all the circumstances:

   1. A direct causal connection between the conditions under which work is
   performed and the occupational disease;

   2. It can be seen to have followed as a natural incident of the work as a
   result of the exposure occasioned by the nature of the employment;

   3. It can be fairly traced to the employment as the proximate cause;

   4. It is neither a disease to which an employee may have had substantial
   exposure outside of the employment, nor any condition of the neck, back or
   spinal column;

   5. It is incidental to the character of the business and not independent of
   the relation of employer and employee; and

   6. It had its origin in a risk connected with the employment and flowed from
   that source as a natural consequence, though it need not have been foreseen or
   expected before its contraction.

C. Hearing loss and the condition of carpal tunnel syndrome are not occupational
diseases but are ordinary diseases of life as defined in &#xA7; 65.2-401.

HISTORY: Code 1950, § 65-42; 1952, c. 603; 1968, c. 660, § 65.1-46; 1970, c.
470; 1986, c. 378; 1991, c. 355; 1997, cc. 15, 405.