An occupational disease is a condition, which disables you due to exposure to a hazard to which the general public is not equally exposed. That’s confusing, isn’t it? In the old days it was coal miners getting black lung, or workers in a cotton mill breathing in cotton fibers. Nowadays the most common occupational diseases are repetitive motion injuries like carpal tunnel syndrome and rotator cuff tears. It is possible to win a back injury as an occupational disease but it’s tough to do so. There are special rules for back claims. This gets very specific, very fast. Succeeding with these claims is pretty difficult unless you are very experienced in the law.