What are the employer's responsibilities when an accident occurs?
Per K.S.A. 44-557, "it is...the duty of every employer to make or cause to be made a report to the director* of any accident, or claimed or alleged accident, to any employee which occurs in the course of the employee’s employment and of which the employer or the employer’s supervisor has knowledge, which report shall be made upon a form to be prepared by the director**, within 28 days, after the receipt of such knowledge, if the personal injuries which are sustained by such accidents, are sufficient wholly or partially to incapacitate the person injured from labor or service for more than the remainder of the day, shift or turn on which such injuries were sustained."
As outlined in K.A.R. 51-9-17, all insurance carriers, group pools and self-insurers are required to use Electronic Data Interchange (EDI) to file First Reports of Injury (FROI) and Subsequent Reports of Injury (SROI) using the Release 3 standards. For details contact Techs and Stats, Division of Workers Compensation at (785) 296-4000 or (800) 332-0353.
Immediately upon learning of an employee's injury or death, the employer must furnish written information to the employee or employee's dependents on available benefits (using K-WC 27-A or K-WC 270-A below), the claims process, an employer or insurance company contact for workers compensation claims, and other matters as required by law.
* As of January 1, 2014, by “make or cause to be made a report to the director” is meant that an employer must report to the employer’s insurer for workers compensation any accident witnessed by the employer, claimed or alleged with sufficient timeliness to allow the insurer to file the accident report with the division within 28 days, as required by K.A.R. 51-9-17.
** The requisite form for reporting by the insurer as of January 1, 2014 is outlined in K.A.R. 51-9-17.