23Special provisions in respect of pneumonokoniosis, silicosis and fibrosis

23 Special provisions in respect of pneumonokoniosis, silicosis and fibrosis

(1)  *[Section 23 Subsection (1) substituted by No. 45 of 1962, s. 2 ]**[Section 23 Subsection (1) amended by No. 44 of 1993, s. 14 and Sched. 1 and s. 15 and Sched. 2 ]*Where it is established to the satisfaction of the Secretary, on the certificate of a certifying medical officer, or, on appeal from that certificate, on the certificate of a medical referee, that an employee is suffering from pneumonokoniosis, silicosis, or fibrosis in the first, second, or third stage of the disease and that the disease is reasonably attributable to employment in mining operations, the Secretary may pay compensation to the employee in accordance with this section.

(2)  *[Section 23 Subsection (2) substituted by No. 45 of 1962, s. 2 ]**[Section 23 Subsection (2) amended by No. 44 of 1993, s. 14 and Sched. 1 ]*The total compensation payable under this section in the case of a person suffering from any of the diseases referred to in subsection (1) of this section in the first or second stage of the disease shall not exceed such amount as the Secretary may determine, being –

(a) in the case of a person suffering from any of those diseases in the first stage, an amount not less than ten per centum and not greater than twenty per centum; or

(b) in the case of a person suffering from any of those diseases in the second stage, an amount not less than twenty-five per centum and not greater than fifty per centum –

of the total compensation that could have been paid to him under this Act if by reason of suffering from that disease he was incapacitated from continuing to work as an employee.

(3)  *[Section 23 Subsection (3) substituted by No. 45 of 1962, s. 2 ]*The total compensation payable under this section to a person suffering from any of the diseases referred to in subsection (1) of this section in the third stage shall not exceed the total amount of compensation that could have been paid to him under this Act if, by reason of suffering from that disease, he had been incapacitated from continuing to work as an employee.

(3A)  *[Section 23 Subsection (3A) inserted by No. 45 of 1962, s. 2 ]*For the purposes of this section, an employee shall be deemed to be suffering from pneumonokoniosis, silicosis, or fibrosis –

(a) in the first stage, when he has early radiological changes suggestive of the disease (being changes that were not present when any radiological examination was made of him on his presenting himself for medical examination under ); and