PHRca Health, Safety, and Workers' Comp 5 — Questions and Answers
Question 1: California requires employers to record work-related injuries and illnesses on which Cal/OSHA forms?
- Cal/OSHA 300 Log, 300A Summary, and 301 Incident Report (Correct answer)
- DWC-1 and Cal/OSHA 5020 only
- OSHA 300 and OSHA 301 federal forms exclusively
- Cal/OSHA 5020 Report of Occupational Injury or Illness only
Correct answer: Cal/OSHA 300 Log, 300A Summary, and 301 Incident Report
California employers use the Cal/OSHA 300 Log, 300A annual summary, and 301 Incident Report — state-specific versions of the federal OSHA recordkeeping forms.
Question 2: Under California's Violence Prevention in the Workplace regulations effective 2024, most employers must establish a Workplace Violence Prevention Plan (WVPP). Who is primarily responsible for implementing this plan?
- The employer, with meaningful participation from employees and authorized representatives (Correct answer)
- Cal/OSHA, who provides a standard plan for all industries
- The employer's workers' compensation insurer exclusively
- HR must implement it independently without employee input
Correct answer: The employer, with meaningful participation from employees and authorized representatives
SB 553 (effective July 1, 2024) requires employers to develop and implement a WVPP with meaningful employee participation, maintain a violent incident log, and provide training.
Question 3: A California employee sustains a cumulative trauma injury (CTI) from years of repetitive work. The 'date of injury' for a CTI is legally determined as:
- The date the employee knew or should have known the injury was work-related (Correct answer)
- The date of the last day of employment
- The date symptoms first appeared regardless of knowledge
- The date the employee filed the DWC-1 form
Correct answer: The date the employee knew or should have known the injury was work-related
For cumulative trauma, California uses the 'date of knowledge' rule — the date the employee knew or should have known that the injury was work-related and disabling.
Question 4: Which of the following best describes a 'return-to-work' program's primary goal in California's workers' compensation context?
- Returning the injured employee to productive work as soon as medically feasible to reduce disability duration (Correct answer)
- Avoiding liability by placing employees on unpaid leave during recovery
- Eliminating the need for the injured employee to see a QME
- Satisfying Cal/OSHA inspection requirements following a work injury
Correct answer: Returning the injured employee to productive work as soon as medically feasible to reduce disability duration
A return-to-work program aims to reintegrate injured employees into productive roles—through modified or transitional duty—as soon as medically appropriate, reducing costs and disability duration.
Question 5: Under California Labor Code Section 4600, an injured worker has the right to predesignate a personal physician before a workplace injury occurs. Which of the following is required for valid predesignation?
- The physician must be the employee's regular physician who has previously treated the employee, and the employer must have group health coverage (Correct answer)
- Any physician chosen within 24 hours of injury qualifies
- The employee must submit the predesignation to Cal/OSHA directly
- Only chiropractors may be predesignated under California law
Correct answer: The physician must be the employee's regular physician who has previously treated the employee, and the employer must have group health coverage
Valid predesignation requires that the physician previously treated the employee, maintains medical records, and is willing to treat work injuries, and the employer must provide health insurance.
Question 6: California's Ergonomics standard (Title 8, Section 5110) for Repetitive Motion Injuries applies to jobs where the RMI was 'predominantly caused' by work. What percentage of causation threshold does 'predominantly' require?
- Greater than 50% work-related causation (Correct answer)
- At least 25% work-related causation
- 100% work-related causation only
- Any measurable work-related contribution
Correct answer: Greater than 50% work-related causation
Under Section 5110, the RMI must be predominantly (more than 50%) caused by a repetitive job, process, or operation to trigger employer obligations.
Question 7: When a California workers' compensation claim is 'denied,' an injured employee who disagrees may seek resolution through:
- The Workers' Compensation Appeals Board (WCAB) (Correct answer)
- The California Labor Commissioner's office only
- Cal/OSHA enforcement division
- The California Department of Insurance arbitration panel
Correct answer: The Workers' Compensation Appeals Board (WCAB)
Disputed workers' compensation claims in California are adjudicated by the Workers' Compensation Appeals Board, which holds hearings and issues decisions.
PHRca Health, Safety, and Workers' Comp 5
California requires employers to record work-related injuries and illnesses on which Cal/OSHA forms?