Issue of "Time" in "By Accident" Concept
Generally, for those jurisdictions adhering to the requirement of injury "by accident" for the injury to be compensable, there is an element of time. Basically, not only must the injury be "accidental" but also the causative event must be fairly identifiable as to time. It has been the general consensus among these jurisdictions that the time element is satisfied if either the event that caused the injury or the resulting injury itself was sudden. The time of the event that caused the injury is sufficiently definite if pinpointed to a span of several hours or days. As for the resulting injury, "suddenness" can include a gradual effect on the worker's body that ends with an injury that is clearly identifiable as to date.
When neither the cause nor the result is sudden, courts have utilized various methods to still find an "accident." The first method is to disregard the time element on the basis that the requirement of an injury "by accident" does not mean an injury by an accident. Another method is to specify that each impact on the worker's body, whether that is a scratch or the inhalation of dust, is an "accident" even though the resulting injury is a cumulative one. Finally, courts have also found the onslaught of pain on a given date to be sudden such that the injury was "accidental," even though no specific date for the cause of the pain can be identified.
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