The Social Security (Industrial Injuries) (Prescribed Diseases) Regulations 1985

Made: 24th June 1985

Laid before Parliament: 10th July 1985

Coming into Operation: 31st July 1985

The Secretary of State for Social Services, in exercise of powers conferred by sections 76, 77, 78, 113 and 155 of and Schedule 20 to the Social Security Act 1975, and of all other powers enabling him in that behalf, and for the purpose only of consolidating regulations hereinafter revoked, after consultation with the Council on Tribunals in so far as is required by section 10 of the Tribunals and Inquiries Act 1971, hereby makes the following regulations:—

PART I — GENERAL

Citation, commencement and interpretation

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• (1) These regulations may be cited as the Social Security (Industrial Injuries) (Prescribed Diseases) Regulations 1985 and shall come into operation on 31st July 1985.

• (2) In these regulations, unless the context otherwise requires—

• “the Act” means the Social Security Act 1975;

• “the 1998 Act” means the Social Security Act 1998;

• “the Workmen's Compensation Acts” means the Workmen's Compensation Acts 1925 to 1945, or the enactments repealed by the Workmen's Compensation Act 1925, or the enactments repealed by the Workmen's Compensation Act 1906;

• “the Adjudication Regulations” means the Social Security (Adjudication) Regulations 1984[^f00001];

• “the Benefit Regulations” means the Social Security (General Benefit) Regulations 1982[^f00002];

• “the Claims and Payments Regulations” means the Social Security (Claims and Payments) Regulations 1979[^f00003];

• ...

• “asbestosis” means fibrosis of the parenchyma of the lungs due to the inhalation of asbestos dust;

• “asbestos textiles” means yarn or cloth composed of asbestos or of asbestos mixed with any other material;

• “coal mine” means any mine where one of the objects of the mining operations is the getting of coal (including bituminous coal, cannel coal, anthracite, lignite, and brown coal);

• “diffuse mesothelioma” means the disease numbered D3 in Part I of Schedule 1 to these regulations;

• “employed earner” means employed earner for the purposes of industrial injuries benefit and the term “employed earner's employment” shall be construed accordingly;

• “foundry” means those parts of industrial premises where the production of metal articles (other than pig iron or steel ingots) is carried on by casting (not being diecasting or other casting in metal moulds), together with any part of the same premises where any of the following processes are carried on incidentally to such production, namely, the drying and subsequent preparation of sand for moulding (including the reclamation of used moulding sand), the preparation of moulds and cores, knock-out operations and dressing or fettling operations;

• “grindstone” means a grindstone composed of natural or manufactured sandstone and includes a metal wheel or cylinder into which blocks of natural or manufactured sandstone are fitted;

• “knock out and shake out grid” means a grid used for mechanically separating moulding sand from mouldings and castings;

• “a local office” means any office appointed by the Secretary of State as a local office for the purposes of the Act or of these regulations;

• ...

• “medical board” has the same meaning as in regulation 30 of the Adjudication Regulations;

• “medical practitioner” means a medical practitioner who has experience in the issues specified in regulation 12(1) of the Social Security and Child Support (Decisions and Appeals) Regulations 1999;

• “metal” for the purposes of the disease number A10 in Part I of Schedule 1 to these Regulations, does not include stone, concrete, aggregate or similar substances for use in road or railway construction;

• “mine” includes every shaft in the course of being sunk, and every level and inclined plane in the course of being driven, and all the shafts, levels, planes, works, tramways and sidings, both below ground and above ground, in and adjacent to and belonging to the mine, but does not include any part of such premises on which any manufacturing process is carried on other than a process ancillary to the getting or dressing of minerals or the preparation of minerals for sale;

• “occupational asthma” means the disease numbered D7 in Part I of Schedule 1 to these regulations;

• “occupational deafness” means the disease numbered A10 in Part I of Schedule 1 to these regulations;

• “the old regulations” means the Social Security (Industrial Injuries) (Prescribed Diseases) Regulations 1980 , as amended by the Social Security (Industrial Injuries) (Prescribed Diseases) Amendment Regulations 1980, the Social Security (Industrial Injuries) (Prescribed Diseases) Amendment Regulations 1982 and the Social Security (Industrial Injuries) (Prescribed Diseases) Amendment (No. 2) Regulations 1982;

• “prescribed disease” means a disease or injury prescribed under Part II of these regulations, and references to a prescribed disease being contracted shall be deemed to include references to a prescribed injury being received;

• “primary carcinoma of the lung” means the diseases numbered D8, D8A, D10 and D11 in Schedule 1 to these Regulations;

• “the Secretary of State” means the Secretary of State for Social Services;

• “silica rock” means quartz, quartzite, ganister, sandstone, gritstone and chert, but not natural sand or rotten rock;

• “skid transfer bank” means the area of a steel mill where the steel product is moved from the area of its formation to the finishing area;

• ...

• ...

• “tuberculosis” in the description of the disease numbered B5 in Part I of Schedule 1 to these regulations means disease due to tuberculous infection, but when used elsewhere in these regulations in connection with pneumoconiosis means tuberculosis of the respiratory system only;

and other expressions have the same meanings as in the Act.

• (3) Unless the context otherwise requires, any reference in these regulations—

• (a) to a numbered section or Schedule is to the section of or, as the case may be, the Schedule to the Act bearing that number; and

• (b) to a numbered regulation is a reference to the regulations bearing that number in these regulations, and any reference in a regulation to a numbered paragraph is a reference to the paragraph of that regulation bearing that number; and

• (c) to any provision made by or contained in any enactment or instrument shall be construed as including a reference to any provision which it re-enacts or replaces, with or without modification.

• (4) In these Regulations, any reference to death benefit shall be taken as including also a reference to any benefit in respect of which contribution conditions are taken as having been satisfied in accordance with paragraph 10 of Schedule 3 to the Social Security Act 1986.

PART II — PRESCRIPTION OF DISEASES AND PRESUMPTION AS TO THEIR ORIGIN

Prescription of diseases and injuries and occupations for which they are prescribed

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For the purposes of Chapter V of Part II of the Act—

• (a) subject to the following paragraphs of this regulation and to regulation 43(3), (5) and (6), each disease or injury set out in the first column of Part I of Schedule 1 hereto is prescribed in relation to all persons who have been employed on or after 5th July 1948 in employed earner's employment in any occupation set against such disease or injury in the second column of the said Part;

• (b) pneumoconiosis is prescribed—

• (i) in relation to all persons who have been employed on or after 5th July 1948 in employed earner's employment in any occupation set out in Part II of the said Schedule; and

• (ii) in relation to all other persons who have been so employed in any occupation involving exposure to dust and who have not worked at any time (whether in employed earner's employment or not) in any occupation in relation to which pneumoconiosis is prescribed by virtue of regulations (apart from this sub-paragraph) in force—

• (a) in the case of any claim for disablement benefit or a claim for death benefit in respect of the death of a person to whom disablement benefit has been awarded in respect of pneumoconiosis, on the date of the claim for disablement benefit;

• (b) in the case of a claim for death benefit in respect of the death of any other person, on the date of the death of that person;

• (c) occupational deafness is prescribed in relation to all persons who have been employed in employed earner's employment—

• (i) at any time on or after 5th July 1948; and

• (ii) for a period or periods (whether before or after 5th July 1948) amounting in the aggregate to not less than 10 years

in one or more of the occupations set out in the second column of paragraph A10 of Part I of Schedule 1 to these regulations ...

• (d) the disease specified in paragraph D12 of Part I of Schedule 1 is not prescribed in relation to persons to whom regulation 22 applies.

• (e) cataract is not prescribed unless the person was employed in employed earner’s employment in an occupation set out in the second column of paragraph A2 of Part I of Schedule 1 to these regulations for a period or periods amounting in aggregate to not less than 5 years.

Sequelae or resulting conditions

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Where a person—

• (a) is or was in employed earner's employment and a disease is or was prescribed under the Act and these regulations in relation to him in such employment; and

• (b) is suffering from a condition which, in his case, has resulted from that disease;

Presumption that a disease is due to the nature of employment

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• (1) Where a person has developed a disease which is prescribed in Part I of Schedule 1 in paragraphs A3(a), A4, A5, A6, A7, A8, A11, B1(a), B3, B4(a), B9, B10, B11, B12, B14, B15, C3, C24A, D4 or D7, that disease shall, unless the contrary is proved, be presumed to be due to the nature of that person’s employed earner’s employment if—

• (a) that employment was in any occupation set against that disease in the second column of that Part; and

• (b) the person was so employed on, or at any time within one month immediately preceding, the date on which, under these Regulations, that person is treated as having developed the disease.

• (2) Where a person has developed a disease which is prescribed in Part I of Schedule 1 in paragraphs A1, A2, A3(b), A10, A13, A14, A15, B2, B6, B8B, B13, C17, C18, C22(a), C24, C31, C32, C34, D2, D3, D6, D8, D8A, D9, D10, D11, D12 or D13, that disease shall, unless the contrary is proved, be presumed to be due to the nature of that person’s employed earner’s employment if that employment was in any occupation set against that disease in the second column of that Part.

• (3) Where a person in relation to whom tuberculosis is prescribed in paragraph B5 of Part I of Schedule 1 in respect of the occupation set out in sub-paragraph (a) in the second column of the entry relating to that disease, develops that disease, that disease shall, unless the contrary is proved, be presumed to be due to the nature of that person’s employed earner’s employment if the date on which, under these Regulations, that person is treated as having developed the disease is—

• (a) not less than six weeks after the date on which that person was first employed in that occupation; and

• (b) not more than two years after the date on which that person was last so employed in that occupation.

• (4) Where a person has developed a disease which is prescribed in Part I of Schedule 1 in paragraphs B1(b), B4(b), B7 and B8A, that disease shall, unless the contrary is proved, be presumed to be due to the nature of that person’s employed earner’s employment if—

• (a) that employment was in any occupation set against that disease in the second column of that Part; and

• (b) that person was so employed—

• (i) on the date on which, under these Regulations, that person is treated as having developed the disease; or

• (ii) on a date at any time within—

• (aa) in the case of B1(b) or B8A, two months;

• (bb) in the case of B7, six months; or

• (cc) in the case of B4(b), twelve months

immediately preceding the date on which, under these Regulations, that person is treated as having developed the disease.

• (5) Where a person in relation to whom carpal tunnel syndrome is prescribed in paragraph A12 of Part I of Schedule 1 in respect of the occupation set out in sub-paragraph (b) in the second column of the entry relating to that disease, develops that disease, it shall, unless the contrary is proved, be presumed to be due to the nature of that person’s employed earner’s employment if that person was employed in that occupation on the date, or at any time within one month immediately preceding the date, on which under these Regulations that person is treated as having developed the disease.

• (6) Where a person in relation to whom primary neoplasm of the epithelial lining of the urinary tract is prescribed in paragraph C23 of Part I of Schedule 1 in respect of the occupation set out in sub-paragraph (a), (b) or (e) in the second column of the entry relating to that disease, develops that disease, it shall, unless the contrary is proved, be presumed to be due to the nature of that person’s employed earner’s employment.

• (7) Where a person in relation to whom pneumoconiosis is prescribed in regulation 2(b)(i) develops pneumoconiosis, the disease shall, unless the contrary is proved, be presumed to be due to the nature of that person’s employed earner’s employment if that person has been employed in either of the occupations set out in Part II of Schedule 1 for a period or periods amounting in aggregate to not less than 2 years in employment which either was employed earner’s employment or would have been employed earner’s employment if it had taken place on or after 5th July 1948.

PART III — DATE OF ONSET AND RECRUDESCENCE

Development of disease

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• (1) If on a claim for benefit under Chapter V of Part II of the Act in respect of a prescribed disease a person is found to be or to have been suffering from the disease, or to have died as the result thereof, the disease shall, for the purposes of such claim, be treated as having developed on a date (hereafter in these regulations referred to as “the date of onset”) determined in accordance with the provisions of the next 2 following regulations.

• (2) Where a person claims benefit under Part V of the Contributions and Benefits Act and it is decided that he is not entitled on the basis of a finding that he was not suffering from a prescribed disease, the finding shall be conclusive for the purpose of a decision on a subsequent claim of that kind in respect of the same disease and the same person.

Date of onset

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• (1) For the purposes of the first claim in respect of a prescribed disease suffered by a person, the date of onset shall be determined in accordance with the following provisions of this regulation, and, save as provided in regulation 7, that date shall be treated as the date of onset for the purposes of any subsequent claim in respect of the same disease suffered by the same person, so however that—

• (a) ... any date of onset determined for the purposes of that claim shall not preclude fresh consideration of the question whether the same person is suffering from the same disease on any subsequent claim for or award of benefit; and

• (b) if, on the consideration of a claim, the degree of disablement is assessed at less than one per cent, any date of onset determined for the purposes of that claim shall be disregarded for the purposes of any subsequent claim.

• (2) Where the claim for the purposes of which the date of onset is to be determined is—

• (a) a claim for sickness benefit made by virtue of section 50A of the Act[^f00004] by a person to whom regulation 8(1) applies (except in respect of pneumoconiosis, byssinosis, diffuse mesothelioma, occupational deafness, occupational asthma, primary carcinoma of the lung, bilateral diffuse pleural thickening or chronic obstructive pulmonary disease the date of onset shall be the first day on which the claimant was incapable of work as the result of the disease on or after 5th July 1948;

• (b) a claim for disablement benefit (except in respect of occupational deafness), the date of onset shall be the day on which the claimant first suffered from the relevant loss of faculty on or after 5th July 1948; and the date of onset so determined shall be the date of onset for the purposes of a claim for sickness benefit made by virtue of section 50A of the Act in respect of pneumoconiosis, byssinosis, diffuse mesothelioma, occupational asthma, primary carcinoma of the lung, bilateral diffuse pleural thickening or chronic obstructive pulmonary disease ;

• (c) a claim for disablement benefit in respect of occupational deafness, the date of onset shall be the day on which the claimant first suffered from the relevant loss of faculty on or after 3rd February 1975; or, if later—

• (i) 3rd September 1979 in the case of a claim made before that date which results in the payment of benefit commencing on that date, and

• (ii) in any other case, the date on which such claim is made as results in the payment of benefit; or

• (d) a claim for death benefit, the date of onset shall be the date of death.

Recrudescence

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• (1) Where in respect of a prescribed disease other than pneumoconiosis, byssinosis, diffuse mesothelioma, occupational deafness, occupational asthma, primary carcinoma of the lung, bilateral diffuse pleural thickening or chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, a person’s disablement has been assessed at not less than one per cent. and he suffers from another attack of the same disease, or dies as a result thereof, then—

• (a) if the further attack commences or the death occurs during a period taken into account by that assessment (which period is in this regulation referred to as a “relevant period”) the disease shall be treated as a recrudescence of the attack to which the relevant period relates, unless it is otherwise determined in the manner referred to in the following sub-paragraph;