Conditions for Entitlement – Any Other Disablement Policy 21-117 | Effective Date: September 23, 2026

Policy

“Any other disablement” refers to disablements that are not generally linked to a single identifiable event. It is distinct from infectious diseases, which result from a single exposure, and occupational diseases, which are diseases peculiar to or characteristic of a particular industrial process, trade or occupation.

Without limiting the scope of this policy, “any other disablement” may include conditions such as:

• Cardiac injuries or disease (incl. myocardial infarction);
• Strokes; and
• Cumulative trauma disorders (incl. repetitive strain injuries).

Claims involving “any other disablement” are adjudicated, as all other claims, using section 7 of the Workers’ Compensation Act (WC Act) and Policy 21-100 Conditions for Entitlement – General Principles.

However, WorkSafeNB recognizes that claims involving “any other disablement” are often complex because these conditions may develop gradually over time, may involve multiple contributing factors, and are not generally linked to a single identifiable event. As a result, entitlement decisions require a thorough review and careful weighing of medical evidence, the worker’s health history, and the nature of the worker’s employment activities to ensure the evidence supports entitlement under the WC Act. For more information, see Policy 21-113 Decision-making.

WorkSafeNB will accept a claim for “any other disablement” when the evidence establishes that the worker sustained an injury caused by an accident arising out of and in the course of their employment.

For infectious diseases, please see Policy 21-109 Conditions for Entitlement - Infectious Diseases. For occupational diseases, see Policy 21-111 Conditions for Entitlement – Occupational Diseases. For traumatic psychological injuries, see Policy 21-103 Conditions for Entitlement – Traumatic Psychological Injuries.

Interpretation

Date of accident

1. The date of accident for claims involving “any other disablement” is the date of diagnosis or the date of disablement, whichever is most advantageous to the worker. If there is a specific event, such as a heart attack, then the date of accident is the date of the disablement.

Evidence

2. WorkSafeNB gathers relevant information and evidence when adjudicating all claims. In claims involving “any other disablement”, comprehensive evidence gathering is essential because these conditions are often complex. Gathering this information is important to effectively assess and weigh evidence as to the cause of the disablement and its relation to work. Information that could be gathered includes, but is not limited, to the following:

• Worker’s diagnosis;
• Medical cause of the disablement;
• Symptom onset and continuity during and after work;
• Worker’s medical history;
• Physical demands, tasks and activities of the work;
• Duration, frequency and intensity of the work activities;
• Worker’s personal hobbies and physical activities;
• Any occurrence of the worker physically exerting themselves at work or outside of work;
• Any recent changes in work or non-work activities;
• Occupational exposure, including chronic exposure;
• Environmental factors, such as heat or cold in the workplace; and
• Known risk factors of the disablement, which can be work-related (i.e. prolonged overhead reaching, repetitive motions) or not work-related (i.e. age, genetics, pre-existing conditions or symptoms).

Decision-making

3. Presumption applies to claims involving “any other disablement”, the same as all claims. This means that if the evidence shows that the disablement arose out of the worker’s employment, then it is presumed to have occurred in the course of their employment, and vice versa, in the absence of evidence to the contrary. 

4. In the presence of evidence to the contrary, the presumption does not apply. Evidence to the contrary is evidence of an alternate cause of the disablement that is not work-related. It is evidence that is inconsistent with the disablement having arisen out of or in the course of the work because it contradicts, refutes or points away from a work-related cause. However, evidence to the contrary does not need to conclusively prove a different cause of the disablement.

5. Evidence to the contrary may be identified through the information gathering process, examples of such could include the following:

• Evidence showing that the disablement is caused by a personal or underlying medical condition, unrelated to employment;
• The presence of degenerative conditions or genetic disorders where medical evidence establishes that work did not materially contribute;
• Medical evidence clearly attributing the condition to aging or disease progression rather than employment exposure;
• Evidence that the worker had symptoms, functional limitations or received treatment prior to employment and that work activities did not aggravate or exacerbate the pre-existing condition;
• Evidence that personal activities or hobbies rather than employment activities have caused the disablement;
• Evidence that the work activities could not have caused the worker’s disablement;
• A causal relationship can not be established between the time period of the work activities and the time of the onset of the disablement;
• Evidence that the worker was at a significantly greater risk of having the disablement due to normal living or personal activities than due to work activities;
• Evidence that a specific non-work incident caused the disablement; or
• Evidence of significant personal risk factors such as smoking, obesity, sedentary lifestyle, hypertension, diabetes, dyslipidemia or family history of coronary artery disease.

6. In the presence of evidence to the contrary, a claim may still be accepted. All evidence must be weighed using the preponderance of evidence to determine if the evidence establishes that the disablement arose out of and in the course of employment. This means that the evidence must show that it is more likely than not that the worker’s employment materially contributed to the development of the disablement. That is that, but for their employment, the worker’s disablement would not have occurred.

Pre-existing condition

7. WorkSafeNB will provide compensation benefits to a worker when their employment has caused an exacerbation or aggravation of a pre-existing “any other disablement” condition. However, a disablement is not accepted for compensation with respect to the natural progression of a worker’s pre-existing condition. For more information, please see Policy 21-101 Pre-existing Conditions.

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