COVID-19 as an occupational disease

Abstract

During the pandemic of coronavirus in our country and in the world, workers and particularly health-care personnel, the frontline fighters, are known to develop the disease and even die due to exposure in the process. According to international definitions and our national legislation, if health-care personnel are infected while they are performing their job and at their workplace, the condition will be defined as an occupational accident and the disease as an occupational disease. Accident at work and occupational diseases are preventable health conditions. Reporting is mandatory. The first thing coming to mind as a result of such reporting is to acquire compensation and similar rights. Yet, the main purpose of notification of an accident at work and occupational diseases should be recording and identifying which conditions cause health issues in which sectors, and planning interventions for prevention. This review paper evaluates the pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019, the identification of conditions required for occupational disease diagnosis, especially in health-care personnel, the necessary procedures following diagnosis, the return to work recommendations, and the preventive strategies especially for health-care personnel from the view of occupational exposure.