Colorado § 8-43-101 - Record of injuries - occupational disease - reported to division - rules - definition.

§ 8-43-101. Record of injuries - occupational disease - reported to division - rules - definition.

(1) (a) Every employer shall keep a record of: All employee injuries that result in fatality, permanent physical impairment, lost time from work in excess of three shifts or calendar days, or active medical treatment for a period of more than one hundred eighty calendar days after the date the injury was first reported to the employer; and the contraction by an employee of an occupational disease that has been listed by the director by rule. Within ten days after notice or knowledge that an employee has contracted such an occupational disease, an injury that results in permanent physical impairment, a lost-time injury, or an injury that results in active medical treatment for a period of more than one hundred eighty calendar days after the date the injury was first reported to the employer, or immediately in the case of a fatality, the employer shall, upon forms prescribed by the division for that purpose, report to the division said occupational disease, permanently physically impairing injury, lost-time injury, injury requiring active medical treatment for a period of more than one hundred eighty calendar days after the date the injury was first reported to the employer, or fatality. The report must contain the information required by the director.

(b) As used in this subsection (1), "active medical treatment":

(I) Means treatment that is determined by an authorized treating physician to be reasonably necessary to cure and relieve the injury and that requires ongoing supervision by an authorized treating physician as documented by a written medical report;

(II) Does not include treatment that is not reasonably expected to improve the condition or any treatment that does not require the supervision of a licensed physician, including gym or pool memberships or home exercise programs; and

(III) Terminates when there has been an abandonment of care or discharge from care for noncompliance prior to expiration of the one-hundred-eighty-day period set forth in subsection (1)(a) of this section.

(2) Unless exempted by the director pursuant to rule because of a small number of filings or a showing of financial hardship, beginning July 1, 2006, reports submitted pursuant to this section shall be submitted in an electronic format as determined by the director. Exposure to an injurious substance as defined by the director by rule and injuries to employees that result in no more than three days' or three shifts' loss of time from work, or no permanent physical impairment, or no fatality to the employee shall be reported by the employer only to the insurer of said employer's workers' compensation insurance liability, which injuries and exposure the insurer shall report only by monthly summary form to or as otherwise requested by the division.

Source: L. 90: Entire article R&RE, p. 499, § 1, effective July 1. L. 2005: Entire section amended, p. 200, § 3, effective July 1. L. 2006: (2) amended, p. 1489, § 5, effective June 1. L. 2022: (1) amended, (HB 22-1347), ch. 477, p. 3474, § 4, effective August 10.

Editor's note: This section is similar to former § 8-45-101 as it existed prior to 1990.

ANNOTATION

Annotator's note. Since § 8-43-101 is similar to § 8-45-101 as it existed prior to the 1990 repeal and reenactment of the "Workers' Compensation Act of Colorado", articles 40 to 47 of this title, relevant cases construing that provision have been included in the annotations to this section.

Report made part of judgment roll when filed in clerk's office. The first report, made as directed by this section, is one of the class of "documents and papers on file in the matter" which by § 8-1-134 is made a part of the judgment roll when filed in the office of the clerk of the district court. New Jersey Fid. & Plate Glass Ins. Co. v. Patterson, 86 Colo. 580, 284 P. 334 (1929).

Not necessary that report be formally introduced in evidence. New Jersey Fid. & Plate Glass Ins. Co. v. Patterson, 86 Colo. 580, 284 P. 334 (1929).

Report's weight as evidence. Report of an accident by employer may be considered on hearing of the claim of employee for compensation, its weight as evidence being for the division. New Jersey Fid. & Plate Glass Ins. Co. v. Patterson, 86 Colo. 580, 284 P. 334 (1929).

Admissibility of admissions against interest contained in report by employer. Admissions against interest contained in a report of accident by employer cannot be rejected as evidence because contradicted by statements set out in a so-called "notice of contest" filed by the employer. New Jersey Fid. & Plate Glass Ins. Co. v. Patterson, 86 Colo. 580, 284 P. 334 (1929).

Employer's failure to make report, or to correct an erroneous report, tolls the limitation period within which claimant must file notice claiming compensation. City of Englewood v. Indus. Claim Appeals Office, 954 P.2d 640 (Colo. App. 1998).

Motor vehicle accident reports not part of workmen's compensation act. The provisions which require police reports of all motor vehicle accidents within the state resulting in injury are not a part of the workmen's compensation act. Stewart v. United States, 716 F.2d 755 (10th Cir. 1982).

Applied in Grant v. Indus. Claim Apps. Office, 740 P.2d 530 (Colo. App. 1987).