Occupational disease

Well kiddo, you know how grown-ups go to work to make money? Sometimes, the work they do can be dangerous for their body. And if a grown-up gets sick because of their job, we call it an occupational disease.

For example, if a construction worker breathes in too much dust from the building materials they use, they can get a lung disease called “silicosis”. Or if a hairdresser uses chemicals to color hair all day, they can get skin problems from those chemicals.

These kinds of diseases can happen slowly, over a long time of working in the same job. And they’re not like getting a cold or flu - they might not go away if you just take medicine. Sometimes, the grown-up has to stop doing their job to get better.

So, governments make rules to try and prevent occupational diseases from happening. They make sure employers give workers protection, like masks or gloves, to stay safe at work. And if a worker does get sick from their job, they might have the right to get financial help to cover their medical bills and any time off work they need to get better.