PROFESSIONAL ILLNESSES
Among the illnesses that could affect the worker, those due to the profession itself can be distinguished into those starting outside the workplace and aggravated by the work environment, and those having no relationship whatsoever to workplace activities.
Professional illnesses are those directly provoked by circumstances (risk factors) present in the workplace environment.
These illnesses usually appear slowly and develop gradually, which distinguishes them from workplace accidents, and very often arise in an undetectable form (without symptoms) possibly only detectable through specialised medical tests. At the same time, in most cases, professional illnesses are very similar, in terms of symptoms, to those illnesses of a non-professional origin.
This slow gradual beginning, along with being easily confused with non-professional illnesses, means that often the worker affected does not realise they are suffering from an illness connected to work. If we add to this the especially complex legal notification and identification process of these illnesses, it is no surprise that the rate of declared professional illnesses is very low.