Title 51 — Title 51 INDUSTRIAL INSURANCE
14 chapters · 346 sections in this title.
RCW 51.04.010 Declaration of police power—Jurisdiction of courts abolished.
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The common law system governing the remedy of workers against employers for injuries received in employment is inconsistent with modern industrial conditions. In practice it proves to be economically unwise and unfair. Its administration has produced the result that little of the…
RCW 51.04.020 Powers and duties.
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The director shall:(1) Establish and adopt rules governing the administration of this title;(2) Ascertain and establish the amounts to be paid into and out of the accident fund;(3) Regulate the proof of accident and extent thereof, the proof of death and the proof of relationship…
RCW 51.04.024 Establishment of investigation unit—Receipt and use of criminal history information.
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(1) There is established an investigation unit within the department for the purpose of detection, investigation, and prosecution of any act prohibited or declared to be unlawful under this title. The director will employ supervisory and investigative personnel for the program, w…
RCW 51.04.030 Medical aid—Rules—Maximum fees—Records and bill payment.
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*** CHANGE IN 2026 *** (SEE 2632.SL) ***(1) The director shall supervise the providing of prompt and efficient care and treatment, including care provided by physician assistants governed by the provisions of chapter 18.71A RCW, including chiropractic care, and including care pro…
RCW 51.04.040 Subpoena power of director—Enforcement by superior court—Application for court approval prior to issuance—No notice required.
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(1) The director and his or her authorized assistants have power to issue subpoenas to enforce the attendance and testimony of witnesses and the production and examination of books, papers, photographs, tapes, and records before the department in connection with any claim made to…
RCW 51.04.050 Health services provider's testimony not privileged.
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In all hearings, actions or proceedings before the department or the board of industrial insurance appeals, or before any court on appeal from the board, any health services provider having theretofore examined or treated the claimant may be required to testify fully regarding su…
RCW 51.04.060 No evasion of benefits or burdens.
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No employer or worker shall exempt himself or herself from the burden or waive the benefits of this title by any contract, agreement, rule or regulation, and any such contract, agreement, rule or regulation shall be pro tanto void.[ 1977 ex.s. c 350 s 3; 1961 c 23 s 51.04.060. Pr…
RCW 51.04.062 Findings.
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The legislature finds that Washington state's workers' compensation system should be designed to focus on achieving the best outcomes for injured workers. Further, the legislature recognizes that controlling pension costs is key to a financially sound workers' compensation system…
RCW 51.04.063 Injured worker options—Claim resolution settlement agreements.
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(1) Notwithstanding RCW 51.04.060 or any other provision of this title, an injured worker who is at least fifty years of age may choose from the following: (a) To continue to receive all benefits for which they are eligible under this title, (b) to participate in vocational train…
RCW 51.04.065 Claim resolution settlement agreements—Availability of copies.
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The department must maintain copies of all claim resolution settlement agreements entered into between the parties and furnish copies of such agreements to any party actively negotiating a subsequent claim resolution settlement agreement with the worker on any allowed claim when …
RCW 51.04.069 Claim resolution settlement agreements—Reports and studies.
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On December 1, 2011, and annually thereafter through December 1, 2014, the department shall report annually to the appropriate committees of the legislature on the implementation of claim resolution settlement agreements. In calendar years 2015, 2019, and 2023, the department sha…
RCW 51.04.070 Minor worker is sui juris—Guardianship expense.
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A minor shall be deemed sui juris for the purpose of this title, and no other person shall have any cause of action or right to compensation for an injury to such minor worker, except as expressly provided in this title, but in the event of any disability payments becoming due un…
RCW 51.04.080 Sending notices, orders, payments to claimants.
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On all claims under this title, claimants' written notices, orders, or payments must be forwarded directly to the claimant until such time as there has been entered an order on the claim appealable to the board of industrial insurance appeals. Claimants' written notices, orders, …
RCW 51.04.082 Notices and orders—Mail, personal service, or electronic means.
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*** CHANGE IN 2026 *** (SEE 6039-S.SL) ***Any notice or order required by this title to be mailed to any employer may be served in the manner prescribed by law for personal service of summons and complaint in the commencement of actions in the superior courts of the state, but if…
RCW 51.04.085 Transmission of amounts payable.
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The department may, at any time, on receipt of written authorization, transmit amounts payable to a claimant, beneficiary, or any supplier of goods or services to the account of such person in a bank or other financial institution regulated by state or federal authority.[ 1977 ex…
RCW 51.04.090 Effect of adjudication of applicability.
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If any employer shall be adjudicated to be outside the lawful scope of this title, the title shall not apply to him or her or his or her worker, or if any worker shall be adjudicated to be outside the lawful scope of this title because of remoteness of his or her work from the ha…
RCW 51.04.100 Statutes of limitation saved.
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If the provisions of this title relative to compensation for injuries to or death of workers become invalid because of any adjudication, or be repealed, the period intervening between the occurrence of an injury or death, not previously compensated for under this title by lump pa…
RCW 51.04.105 Continuation of medical aid contracts.
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The obligations of all medical aid contracts approved by the supervisor prior to the repeal of any section of this title pertaining to medical aid contracts shall continue until the expiration of such contracts notwithstanding any such repeal and all provisions of this title pert…
RCW 51.04.110 Workers' compensation advisory committee.
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The director shall appoint a workers' compensation advisory committee composed of ten members: Three representing subject workers, three representing subject employers, one representing self-insurers, one representing workers of self-insurers, and two ex officio members, without …
RCW 51.04.120 Certificate of coverage required—Contents.
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Any employer other than a self-insurer subject to this title shall, under such rules as the department shall prescribe, apply for and obtain from the department a certificate of coverage. The certificate shall be personal and nontransferable and shall be valid as long as the empl…
RCW 51.04.130 Industrial insurance coverage for Hanford workers—Special agreements.
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The department of labor and industries upon the request of the secretary of defense of the United States or the secretary of the United States department of energy, may in its discretion approve special insuring agreements providing industrial insurance coverage for workers engag…
RCW 51.04.150 Education and outreach—Workers' compensation, premium responsibilities, and independent contractor issues.
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The department shall conduct education and outreach to employers on workers' compensation requirements and premium responsibilities, including independent contractor issues. The department shall work with new employers on an individual basis and also establish mass education camp…
RCW 51.04.153 Fraud—Underground economy—Finding—Use of best practices.
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(1) The legislature finds that the department is successfully addressing employer fraud and the underground economy, helping ensure that employers who appropriately report and pay premiums can be competitive. Efforts focus on prevention, education, and enforcement by identifying …
RCW 51.04.160 Logger safety initiative—Task force—Report.
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(1) The department shall include one or more representatives of logging industry workers on the logger safety task force. In addition, the department shall reach out to all employers in the logging industry, including those having one or more on the job fatalities in the last fiv…
RCW 51.04.165 Information about scholarship opportunities—Costs.
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The department may provide information about scholarship opportunities offered by nonprofit organizations and available to children and spouses of workers who suffered an injury in the course of employment resulting in death or permanent total disability. The department may, in i…
RCW 51.04.170 Firefighter safety—Department must establish best practices.
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(1) The department must establish best practices to improve safety and health outcomes for firefighters, including best practices:(a) For a proactive health and safety risk management system consisting of a joint employer and employee governance structure to oversee a continuous …
RCW 51.04.175 Firefighter safety—Funding authorized for training and equipment that may be necessary to follow best practices—Eligibility for funding.
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(1) The director is authorized to provide funding of up to two percent of the premiums paid in the prior year from the risk classes for firefighters as defined in RCW 41.26.030(17) (a) through (c) for the purposes of providing funding to employers of firefighters who have limited…
RCW 51.04.180 State of emergency—Safety grant program expenditures—Procedures.
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(1) In the event of a state of emergency as defined in RCW 43.06.010(12), the director is authorized to expend up to two percent per year of the net premiums earned in the accident fund in the prior fiscal year for the purpose of a safety grant program so long as the assets of th…
RCW 51.04.190 Transportation network companies.
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(1) The application of this chapter to a transportation network company, as defined in RCW 49.46.300, shall not be indicative of, or considered a factor in determining, the existence of an employer-employee relationship between the transportation network company and driver for pu…