Generally, the concept of apportionment assigns a percentage of the work-related injury to the work itself and the remaining percentage to other nonindustrial factors or prior injuries.

Workers’ compensation law exempts some peace officers, firefighters and other safety personnel from medical apportionment of the causes of certain diseases, including:

Pneumonia;
Hernias;
Heart disease;
Cancer;
Tuberculosis;
Blood-borne diseases; and
Other afflictions in workers’ compensation cases where the law provides for a disputable presumption that the cause is work related.1

If a qualifying peace officer, firefighter or other safety personnel experiences one of these illnesses or injuries as a result of their employment, workers’ compensation fully covers that illness or injury without apportionment.

These specific conditions for various emergency personnel are presumed by statute to be work-related. This is legislative recognition of the types of occupations that these emergency personnel engage in, the risks inherent in those jobs and the higher incidence of these types of conditions in this subset of the workforce.

1. Lab. Code secs. 3212, etc.

Workers’ Compensation Exceptions for Emergency Personnel

Covered Injuries