Illinois Compiled Statutes
820 ILCS 310/7 (2026)
If any employee sustains any disablement, impairment, or disfigurement, or dies and his or her disability, impairment, disfigurement or death is caused by a disease aggravated by an exposure of the employment or by an occupational disease arising out of and in the course of his or her employment, such employee or such employee's dependents, as the case may be, shall be entitled to compensation, medical, surgical, hospital and rehabilitation care, prosthesis, burial costs, and all other benefits, rights and remedies, in the same manner, to the same extent and subject to the same terms, conditions and limitations, except as herein otherwise provided, as are now or may hereafter be provided by the "Workers' Compensation Act" for accidental injuries sustained by employees arising out of and in the course of their employment (except that the amount of compensation which shall be paid for loss of hearing of one ear is 100 weeks) and for this purpose the disablement, disfigurement or death of an employee by reason of an occupational disease, arising out of and in the course of his or her employment, shall be treated as the happening of an accidental injury
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(820 ILCS 310/7)
(from Ch. 48, par. 172.42)
Sec. 7.
If any employee sustains any disablement, impairment, or
disfigurement, or dies and his or her disability, impairment,
disfigurement or death is caused by a disease aggravated by an exposure
of the employment or by an occupational disease arising out of and in
the course of his or her employment, such employee or such employee's
dependents, as the case may be, shall be entitled to compensation,
medical, surgical, hospital and rehabilitation care, prosthesis, burial
costs, and all other benefits, rights and remedies, in the same manner,
to the same extent and subject to the same terms, conditions and
limitations, except as herein otherwise provided, as are now or may
hereafter be provided by the "Workers' Compensation Act" for accidental
injuries sustained by employees arising out of and in the course of
their employment (except that the amount of compensation which shall be
paid for loss of hearing of one ear is 100 weeks) and for this purpose
the disablement, disfigurement or death of an employee by reason of an
occupational disease, arising out of and in the course of his or her
employment, shall be treated as the happening of an accidental injury.
(a) Loss of hearing for compensation purposes shall be
confined to the frequencies of 1,000, 2,000 and 3,000 cycles per second.
Loss of hearing ability for frequency tones above 3,000 cycles per second
are not to be considered as constituting disability for hearing.
(b) The percent of hearing loss, for purposes of the
determination of compensation claims for occupational deafness,
shall be calculated as the average in decibels for the thresholds
of hearing for the frequencies of 1,000, 2,000 and 3,000 cycles per second.
Pure tone air conduction audiometric instruments, approved by
nationally recognized authorities in this field, shall be used for measuring
hearing loss. If the losses of hearing average 30 decibels or less in the
3 frequencies, such losses of hearing shall not then constitute any
compensable hearing disability. If the losses of hearing average 85 decibels
or more in the 3 frequencies, then the same shall constitute and be total or 100 percent
compensable hearing loss.
(c) In measuring hearing impairment, the lowest measured
losses in each of the 3 frequencies shall be added together and
divided by 3 to determine the average decibel loss. For every decibel
of loss exceeding 30 decibels an allowance of 1.82% shall be made up to
the maximum of 100 percent which is reached at 85 decibels.
(d) If a hearing loss is established to have existed on July 1, 1975,
by audiometric testing the employer shall not be liable for the previous
loss so established nor shall he be liable for any loss for which compensation
has been paid or awarded.
(e) No consideration shall be given to the question of
whether or not the ability of an employee to understand speech
is improved by the use of a hearing aid.
(f) No claim for loss of hearing due to industrial noise
shall be brought against an employer or allowed unless the employee has been exposed
for a period of time sufficient to cause permanent impairment to
noise levels in excess of the following:
Sound Level DBA Slow Response Hours Per Day 90 8 92 6 95 4 97 3 100 2 102 1-1/2 105 1 110 1/2 115 1/4
This subparagraph (f) shall not be applied in cases of hearing loss resulting
from trauma or explosion.
In addition to discharging the foregoing obligations, the employer
shall pay into the Special Fund created under paragraph (f) of Section 7
of the "Workers' Compensation Act", the same amounts and in the same
manner as is provided in the same Act in cases of accidental injuries
arising out of and in the course of the employment.
(Source: P.A. 81-1482.)
Notes of Decisions
Cited in 14
cases (1 in the last 5 years), 1996–2025 · leading case: Wal-Mart Stores, Inc. v. Indus. Comm'n, 755 N.E.2d 98 (Ill. App. Ct. 2001).
Wal-Mart Stores, Inc. v. Indus. Comm'n, 755 N.E.2d 98 (Ill. App. Ct. 2001). “(Wal-Mart), appeals from a circuit court order dismissing its action for administrative review of a decision of the Industrial Commission (Commission) denying its request for approval of a panel of physicians pursuant to section 8(a) of the Workers’ Compensation Act (Act) (820…”
Freeman United Coal Mining Co. v. Illinois Workers' Comp. Comm'n, 901 N.E.2d 906 (Ill. App. Ct. 2008). “” The arbitrator awarded claimant benefits under section 7 of the Act (820 ILCS 310/7 (West 2000)) and ordered employer to pay claimant $4,200 for decedent’s funeral expenses (case No.”
Docksteiner v. Indus. Comm'n, 806 N.E.2d 230 (Ill. App. Ct. 2004). “See 820 ILCS 310/7 (West 1996). Both the claimant and Peabody sought a review of the arbitrator's decision before the Commission.”
Hamilton v. Indus. Comm'n, 785 N.E.2d 839 (Ill. 2003). “See 820 ILCS 310/7 (West 2000). These claims were consolidated, and, following a hearing, an arbitrator found that Hamilton had sustained a permanent hearing loss of 39.”
Freeman United Coal Mining Co. v. Indus. Comm'n, 670 N.E.2d 1122 (Ill. App. Ct. 1996). “820 ILCS 310/7 (West 1994). The Compensation Act provides for various types of compensation, only one of which is relevant here: paragraph (d) of section 8, permanent partial disability.”
Edmonds v. Illinois Workers'Comp., 968 N.E.2d 775 (Ill. App. Ct. 2012). “67 per week for 50 weeks, representing 10% of the person as a whole (see 820 ILCS 305/8(d)(2) (West 2002); 820 ILCS 310/7 (West 2002)). The Illinois Workers' Compensation Commission (Commission) affirmed and adopted the decision of the arbitrator.”
Dawson v. Illinois Workers' Comp. Comm'n, 888 N.E.2d 135 (Ill. App. Ct. 2008). “See 820 ILCS 310/7 (West 1998). The arbitrator denied claimant wage-differential benefits under section 8(d)(1) of the Workers’ Compensation Act (820 ILCS 305/8(d)(1) (West 1998)), finding insufficient evidence to establish that claimant was not employable as a coal miner.”
Freeman United Coal Mining Co. v. Indus. Comm'n, 739 N.E.2d 1009 (Ill. App. Ct. 2000). “After a hearing, an arbitrator awarded the claimant benefits under section 7 of the Act (820 ILCS 310/7 (West 1998)) and ordered Freeman to pay the claimant $1,750 for the decedent’s funeral expenses.”
Springfield Coal Co., LLC v. Illinois Workers' Comp. Comm'n, 2016 IL App (4th) 150564WC (Ill. App. Ct. 2017). “Although the arbitrator rejected claimant’s request for a wage-differential (820 ILCS 305/8(d)(1) (West 2008); see also 820 ILCS 310/7 (West 2008) (providing that the Act incorporates the recovery provisions of the Workers’ Compensation Act (820 ILCS 305/1 et seq.”
Peabody Coal Co. v. Indus. Comm'n, 823 N.E.2d 1107 (Ill. App. Ct. 2005). “See 820 ILCS 310/7 (West 1996). Employer sought judicial review of the Commission’s decision in the circuit court of Christian County, which confirmed the Commission’s decision.”
Peabody Coal Co. v. Indus. Comm'n, 812 N.E.2d 59 (Ill. App. Ct. 2004). “The arbitrator awarded the claimant 15% permanent partial disability of the body as a whole (820 ILCS 310/7 (West 1996); 820 ILCS 305/8(d) (West 1996)).”
Springfield Coal Co., LLC v. Illinois Workers' Comp. Comm'n, 2016 IL App (1st) 150564WC (Ill. App. Ct. 2016). “Although the arbitrator rejected claimant’s request for a wage- differential (820 ILCS 305/8(d)(1) (West 2008); see also 820 ILCS 310/7 (West 2008) (providing that the Act incorporates the recovery provisions of the Workers’ Compensation Act (820 ILCS 305/1 et seq.”
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