Managing Employee Injuries and Disability and Occupational Safety

 Where the employee’s injury or death is proximately caused by a defective product manufactured by the employer and sold, leased or otherwise transferred to the employee for valuable consideration.

F. P UBLIC A GENCY L IABILITY A RISING FROM THE I SSUANCE OF B UILDING P ERMITS Under Labor Code Section 3800, a public agency which issues a building permit is required to ascertain whether the applicant is insured for workers’ compensation. In Morris v. Marin County , 50 an employee of a contractor to whom a building permit was issued sustained an industrial injury. His employer was uninsured and the county which had issued the permit failed to verify that the contractor had workers’ compensation insurance. The court held that the employee could recover damages from the county due to its failure to verify that the contractor was insured.

E MPLOYER R EPORTING R ESPONSIBILITIES , N OTICE O BLIGATIONS , AND I NVESTIGATION AND C LAIMS M ANAGEMENT

Section 8

A. I NTRODUCTION First-line managers can be in the forefront in reducing agency liability and costs from employee injuries. First-line managers can accomplish this by being conscious of their legal obligations to report injuries, to notify employees of their rights, and to promptly investigate claims. In this section of the handbook, we will discuss the legal obligations of the employer with respect to notice and reporting. We will also discuss certain fundamentals of effective claims investigation and administration in which members of the management team can take part. 1. R ECORDING AND R EPORTING OF O CCUPATIONAL I NJURY OR I LLNESS The employer shall file with the Department of Industrial Relations a complete report of every injury to each employee arising out of or in the course of employment, unless disability resulting from the injury does not last through the day or does not require medical service other than ordinary first aid treatment. This report must be made on the Division of Labor Statistics Form 5020, “Employer’s Report of Occupational Injury or Illness.” The report must be filed within five days after the injury. The report may also be forwarded to the employer’s insurance carrier or adjusting agent which in turn transmits it to the Department of Industrial Relations. Title 8, California Code of Administrative Regulations Section 14000.

Managing Employee Injuries, Disability and Occupational Safety ©2019 (s) Liebert Cassidy Whitmore 56