Washington’s Industrial Insurance Act provides benefits to workers injured in the course of their employment, without regard to fault.
Employers are required to ensure that the individuals they hire are legally able to work in this country. The department does not investigate or track the employer’s compliance with this federal requirement, nor does it record the immigration status of the injured workers who file approximately 160,000 claims each year.
There is no justification for denying industrial insurance benefits to an otherwise eligible injured worker based solely on that person’s immigration status. All workers regardless of their color, creed, national origin or immigration status are entitled to the insurance for which they and their employer have paid if they suffer an occupational injury or disease.
Time-loss compensation benefits are paid to injured workers who are totally disabled by their industrial injury. This compensation enables workers and their families to meet the basic necessities of survival while recovering from an industrial injury. It is an integral part of the benefit package for which premiums have been paid. Undocumented workers pay into the system through payroll deductions at the same rate as every other worker.
For more information: Steve Pierce, 360-902-5412, or R.T. Nelson, 360-902-6043.
Workplace Safety: (Contact: Elaine Fischer, 360-902-5413 or Xenefon Moniodis, 360-902-6458)
Consumer help: (Contact: Elaine Fischer, 360-902-5413)
Health/Injury Recovery: (Contact: R.T. Nelson, 360-902-6043)
Tips for businesses: (Contact: Renee Guillierie, 360-902-4205)
Other
Are you covering a workplace accident or safety citation? Here's the background information on DOSH:
Employers are required to provide safe and healthy worksites and protect their workers from hazards. They must meet certain requirements, including having an accident prevention plan tailored to the hazards of a particular worksite. In addition, certain high-hazard industries, such as construction, agriculture and logging, have industry-specific standards that must be met. These requirements are in the Washington Industrial Safety and Health Act, or WISHA.
The Division of Occupational Safety and Health (DOSH) is the state equivalent of the federal OSHA (Occupational Safety and Health Administration). By law, the DOSH state program must meet or exceed all OSHA requirements. All workplace consultations and inspections are done by L&I staff.
L&I conducts about 7,000 workplace safety and health inspections annually.
By law, DOSH must investigate all occupational fatalities and all catastrophic incidences (two or more workers hospitalized) in workplaces where employees are present. Employers must notify L&I within eight hours of this type of accident.
An investigation also may be triggered by an employee complaint, a referral from another agency, or when otherwise brought to our attention, such as a breaking news story involving a workplace accident.
The primary focus of a DOSH investigation is to determine whether the employer was protecting its workers properly at the time the accident happened. The investigator will look at what happened — and why — in making this determination.
An employer may be found to have one or more of the following levels of violations:
The employer has 15 business days to appeal a DOSH citation.
Funds collected from penalties go into the supplemental pension fund to benefit injured workers and the surviving family members of workers who are killed on the job.
