1.1                          A bill for an act
  1.2             relating to workers' compensation; adding correctional 
  1.3             officers to the presumption of occupational disease; 
  1.4             amending Minnesota Statutes 1996, section 176.011, 
  1.5             subdivision 15. 
  1.6   BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF MINNESOTA: 
  1.7      Section 1.  Minnesota Statutes 1996, section 176.011, 
  1.8   subdivision 15, is amended to read: 
  1.9      Subd. 15.  [OCCUPATIONAL DISEASE.] (a) "Occupational 
  1.10  disease" means a disease arising out of and in the course of 
  1.11  employment peculiar to the occupation in which the employee is 
  1.12  engaged and due to causes in excess of the hazards ordinary of 
  1.13  employment and shall include undulant fever.  Ordinary diseases 
  1.14  of life to which the general public is equally exposed outside 
  1.15  of employment are not compensable, except where the diseases 
  1.16  follow as an incident of an occupational disease, or where the 
  1.17  exposure peculiar to the occupation makes the disease an 
  1.18  occupational disease hazard.  A disease arises out of the 
  1.19  employment only if there be a direct causal connection between 
  1.20  the conditions under which the work is performed and if the 
  1.21  occupational disease follows as a natural incident of the work 
  1.22  as a result of the exposure occasioned by the nature of the 
  1.23  employment.  An employer is not liable for compensation for any 
  1.24  occupational disease which cannot be traced to the employment as 
  1.25  a direct and proximate cause and is not recognized as a hazard 
  2.1   characteristic of and peculiar to the trade, occupation, 
  2.2   process, or employment or which results from a hazard to which 
  2.3   the worker would have been equally exposed outside of the 
  2.4   employment.  
  2.5      (b) If immediately preceding the date of disablement or 
  2.6   death, an employee was employed on active duty with an organized 
  2.7   fire or police department of any municipality, as a member of 
  2.8   the Minnesota state patrol, conservation officer service, state 
  2.9   crime bureau, as a forest officer by the department of natural 
  2.10  resources, correctional officer, or sheriff or full-time deputy 
  2.11  sheriff of any county, and the disease is that of myocarditis, 
  2.12  coronary sclerosis, pneumonia or its sequel, and at the time of 
  2.13  employment such employee was given a thorough physical 
  2.14  examination by a licensed doctor of medicine, and a written 
  2.15  report thereof has been made and filed with such organized fire 
  2.16  or police department, with the Minnesota state patrol, 
  2.17  conservation officer service, state crime bureau, department of 
  2.18  natural resources, department of corrections, or sheriff's 
  2.19  department of any county, which examination and report negatived 
  2.20  any evidence of myocarditis, coronary sclerosis, pneumonia or 
  2.21  its sequel, the disease is presumptively an occupational disease 
  2.22  and shall be presumed to have been due to the nature of 
  2.23  employment.  If immediately preceding the date of disablement or 
  2.24  death, any individual who by nature of their position provides 
  2.25  emergency medical care, or an employee who was employed as a 
  2.26  licensed police officer under section 626.84, subdivision 1; 
  2.27  firefighter; paramedic; correctional officer; emergency medical 
  2.28  technician; or licensed nurse providing emergency medical care; 
  2.29  and who contracts an infectious or communicable disease to which 
  2.30  the employee was exposed in the course of employment outside of 
  2.31  a hospital, then the disease is presumptively an occupational 
  2.32  disease and shall be presumed to have been due to the nature of 
  2.33  employment and the presumption may be rebutted by substantial 
  2.34  factors brought by the employer or insurer. 
  2.35     (c) A firefighter on active duty with an organized fire 
  2.36  department who is unable to perform duties in the department by 
  3.1   reason of a disabling cancer of a type caused by exposure to 
  3.2   heat, radiation, or a known or suspected carcinogen, as defined 
  3.3   by the International Agency for Research on Cancer, and the 
  3.4   carcinogen is reasonably linked to the disabling cancer, is 
  3.5   presumed to have an occupational disease under paragraph (a).  
  3.6   If a firefighter who enters the service after August 1, 1988, is 
  3.7   examined by a physician prior to being hired and the examination 
  3.8   discloses the existence of a cancer of a type described in this 
  3.9   paragraph, the firefighter is not entitled to the presumption 
  3.10  unless a subsequent medical determination is made that the 
  3.11  firefighter no longer has the cancer. 
  3.12     Sec. 2.  [EFFECTIVE DATE; APPLICATION.] 
  3.13     Section 1 is effective the day following final enactment 
  3.14  and applies to injuries on or after that date.