Japan Press Weekly

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2013 August 14 - 20 [LABOR]

Court recognizes home helper as suffering from work-related illness

The judgment given by a district court last month that a public employee who worked as a home helper suffers from a work-related illness has become confirmed.

The defendant, the Fund for Local Government Employees’ Accident Compensation Osaka Branch, on August 12 announced that it will not appeal to a higher court. The plaintiff’s symptom of neck-shoulder-arms syndrome will be finally recognized as work-related 17 years after its first diagnosis.

Hasegawa Safumi, the 58-year-old plaintiff, got a job as a home helper in Suita City, Osaka Prefecture in 1985. Having worked physically demanding jobs, such as providing bathing assistance, for ten years, she developed a constant pain in her neck, shoulders, and lower back. In July 1995, she was diagnosed with “neck-shoulder-arms syndrome” and had to take a leave of absence.

Hasegawa submitted an application for certification of occupational disease to the Osaka branch of the fund. Though both Hasegawa’s doctor and the city government recognized that her pain was caused by the work, her application was dismissed in December 2005. She in November 2010 filed a lawsuit with the Osaka District Court demanding official recognition.

The district court on July 29 ruled in favor of Hasegawa. This is the first ruling that recognizes neck-shoulder-arms syndrome of a public home helper as work-related, according to the counsel of the plaintiff.

Hasegawa said, “I hope this ruling will help caregivers in homes and nursing facilities work without anxieties.”