Contacts & Topics

Media Contacts  Main number: 360-902-5400  Fax: 360-902-5420   Admin. Asst: 360-902-4226
If you have questions about …	Contact
General agency information, legislative issues.	Renee Guillierie, Public Affairs Manager 360-902-5673 Renee.Guillierie@Lni.wa.gov
Workers' compensation insurance	Rena Shawver 360-902-5189 Rena.Shawver@Lni.wa.gov
Workers' compensation insurance	Barbara Davis 360-902-4216 Barbara.Davis@Lni.wa.gov
Workplace safety and health	Elaine Fischer 360-902-5413 Elaine.Fischer@Lni.wa.gov
Injured Young Workers Speakers Program	Xenofon Moniodis 360-902-6458 Xenofon.Moniodis@Lni.wa.gov
Fraud prevention and investigations, underground economy	Pat Albright 360-902-5210 Pat.Albright@Lni.wa.gov
Contractor registration, Plumber certification and Factory-assembled structures	Dana Botka 360-902-5408 Dana.Botka@Lni.wa.gov
Wage-and-hour topics: minimum wage, overtime, minor workers, and wage claims	Dana Botka 360-902-5408 Dana.Botka@Lni.wa.gov
Elevators, Electrical inspections and licensing, Boiler inspections	Dana Botka 360-902-5408 Dana.Botka@Lni.wa.gov
Apprenticeship	Dana Botka 360-902-5408 Dana.Botka@Lni.wa.gov
Crime Victims Compensation Program	Rena Shawver 360-902-5189 Rena.Shawver@Lni.wa.gov
Small business outreach	Celia Nightingale 360-902-4865 1-800-987-0145 SmallBusiness@Lni.wa.gov
Hispanic outreach	Lisa Heaton 360-902-5411 Lisa.Heaton@Lni.wa.gov

Or write to:

Alphabetical Topics

• Accidents/Workplace inspections.
• L&I’s DOSH (Division of Occupational Safety and Health) program develops and enforces rules that protect workers from hazardous job conditions. Our inspectors visit about 7,000 workplaces each year and cite businesses that violate healthand safety rules. Each year, we also conduct about 2,500 free, on-site safety and health consultations for employers who request our help complying with these rules to make their unique workplaces safe.
  • Contact: Elaine Fischer, 360-902-5413
  • Helpful links: Safety & Health Program (DOSH): (www.Lni.wa.gov/safety/basics/About/)
  • Look up a company's history of compliance with safety and health rules: (www.osha.gov/oshstats/)
  • Statistics: (www.Lni.wa.gov/ClaimsIns/Insurance/DataStatistics)
  • Research: (www.Lni.wa.gov/Safety/Research/About)
  • Writing about workplace accidents: (www.Lni.wa.gov/news/WritingAbout.asp#WritingReAccidents)
  • See also Workplace safety education on this page.

• Agricultural workers.
• L&I’s regulations affect thousands of seasonal workers in agriculture, many of them Spanish-speaking. L&I has an active outreach and education program to those in this industry. (See Spanish outreach program below.)
  • Contact: Lisa Heaton, 360-902-5411, or Delfina Gayle, 360-902-5407
  • Helpful links: Agriculture main page: (www.Lni.wa.gov/WorkplaceRights/Agriculture/)
  • "Your Rights as an Agricultural Worker" (www.Lni.wa.gov/IPUB/700-083-000.pdf)

• Apprenticeship.
• L&I registers hundreds of apprenticeship programs that help workers earn a living while learning a skill.
  • Contact: Dana Botka, 360-902-5405
  • Helpful links: Apprenticeship main page (www.Lni.wa.gov/TradesLicensing/Apprenticeship/)

• Basics for homeowners.
• A step-by-step guide to hiring a contracrtor.
  • Contact: Shari Purves-Reiter, 360-902-4733
  • Helpful links: Guide to hiring a contractor checklist (www.Lni.wa.gov/TradesLicensing/Contractors/HireCon/Checklist/before1.asp)

• Business rates/risk classes.
• Every business with employees must provide workers’ compensation coverage. L&I administers the State Fund that covers 70 percent of the state’s workers. L&I’s Self-Insurance program also monitors coverage offered by large companies that can elect to self-insure their employees and manage their own claims. For the State Fund, L&I sets rates at the minimum level needed to administer the program and provide benefits to workers who become ill or are injured on the job. Rates are based on the industry risk and the employer’s safety record.
  • Contact: Rena Shawver, 360-902-5189, or Barbara Davis, 360-902-4216
  • Helpful links: Rates and risk classes (www.Lni.wa.gov/ClaimsIns/Insurance/RatesRisk/)
  • "Employer's Guide" (publication): (www.Lni.wa.gov/IPUB/101-002-000.pdf) (PDF — 1:20 dialup)

• Child labor/teen safety.
• L&I enforces laws that prevent children and teens from working long hours or at hazardous jobs.
  • Contact: Xenofon Moniodis, 360-902-6458
  • Helpful links: Teen worker page (www.Lni.wa.gov/WorkplaceRights/TeenWorkers/)
  • Injured Young Workers Speakers Program (www.Lni.wa.gov/WorkplaceRights/TeenWorkers/SpeakersProgram/)
  • "Teen Workers Have Two Jobs" (publication): (www.Lni.wa.gov/IPUB/700-022-000.pdf) (PDF — 1:42 dialup)

• Crime victims compensation.
• L&I administers this program, which provides financial and/or medical assistance to the victims of crime who have no other resources to fall back on. Benefits may include replacement of lost wages, medical coverage, counseling, burial expenses and pensions. The program is funded by a federal grant, as well as by fines, fees and assessments collected by the criminal justice system.
  • Contact: Rena Shawver, 360-902-5189
  • Helpful links: Crime Vicitms Compensation Program (www.Lni.wa.gov/ClaimsIns/CrimeVictims/)

• Data and statistics about worker injuries and fatalities.
• L&I keeps statistical data on Washington State workers' compensation injuries, illnesses and fatalities for research and reporting and for workplace safety and risk management purposes. You can view tables and charts showing the numbers of injuries, costs, ratings and scores sorted by a number of subject areas like worker injuries, service provider ratings, employer risk factor ratings and so on. Also provides data from the Washington State branch of the federal Bureau of Labor Statistics.
  • Contact: Elaine Fischer, 360-902-5413
  • Helpful links: Workers' Comp Injury Data & Statistics (www.lni.wa.gov/ClaimsIns/Insurance/DataStatistics/)

• Electrical inspections/licensing.
• This program licenses electrical contractors and certifies electrical administrators, journeymen and trainees. The staff inspects more than 250,000 electrical installations at job sites each year.
  • Contact: Dana Botka, 360-902-5405
  • Helpful links:(www.Lni.wa.gov/TradesLicensing/Electrical/)
  • Get or renew an electrical license: (www.Lni.wa.gov/TradesLicensing/LicensingReq/Electricians/)

• Elevator inspections.
• L&I’s elevator inspectors are responsible for checking the safety of more than 13,000 passenger and freight elevators, special-purpose elevators, dumbwaiters, escalators, boat-launch lifts, residential elevators and other conveyances.
  • Contact: Dana Botka, 360-902-5405
  • Helpful links:(www.Lni.wa.gov/TradesLicensing/Elevators/)

• Ergonomics.
• L&I's focus is to educate workers and employers on the importance of preventing musculoskeletal injuries and proper techniques they can use.
  • Contact: Elaine Fischer, 360-902-5413
  • Helpful links:(www.Lni.wa.gov/Safety/Topics/Ergonomics/About/)

• Factory-assembled structures.
• L&I inspects many different types of pre-built housing, including factory-built homes and commercial buildings, manufactured mobile homes, park trailers and temporary worker housing, to help ensure they are safely installed and/or remodeled.
  • Contact: Dana Botka, 360-902-5405
  • Helpful links:(www.Lni.wa.gov/TradesLicensing/FAS/)

• Fraud: Workers, employers and health care providers.
• L&I aggressively investigates fraud committed by employers who aren’t registered or who falsify payroll records to avoid paying premiums. It also investigates workers who collect workers’ compensation benefits dishonestly and providers who overcharge L&I for health-care services to injured workers.
  • Contact: Pal Albright, 360-902-5210
  • Helpful links:
    • Injured worker fraud: (www.Lni.wa.gov/ClaimsInsurance/WorkersCompFraud/Injured/)
    • Employer fraud: (www.Lni.wa.gov/ClaimsInsurance/WorkersCompFraud/Employer/)
    • Contractor fraud: (www.lni.wa.gov/TradesLicensing/Contractors/ContractorFraud/)
    • Provider fraud (providers of health care and other services): (www.Lni.wa.gov/ClaimsInsurance/WorkersCompFraud/Provider/)

• Injured worker claims.
• L&I handles more than 150,000 workplace-injury and occupational-illness claims every year. We work with employees, medical providers and businesses to make sure injured workers return to health and paid employment as quickly as possible. Their benefits may include medical care, wage replacement, retraining and disability/ pension awards.
  • Contact: Rena Shawver, 360-902-5189
  • Helpful links:
  • Introduction: How claims are filed: (www.Lni.wa.gov/ClaimsInsurance/ClaimsAppeals/FileClaim/)
  • Guide to workers’ compensation benefits: (www.Lni.wa.gov/ClaimsInsurance/ClaimsAppeals/Benefits/)
  • All claims and insurance topics: (www.Lni.wa.gov/ClaimsInsurance/)

• Minimum wage.
• L&I calculates the state’s minimum wage in September of each year as a result of an initiative approved by voters in 1998. The law ties the minimum wage to changes in the federal Consumer Price Index for Urban Wage Earners and Clerical Workers (CPI-W).
  • Contact: Dana Botka, 360-902-5405
  • Helpful links:(www.Lni.wa.gov/TradesLicensing/FAS/)
  • Minimum wage: (www.Lni.wa.gov/WorkplaceRights/Wages/Minimum/About/)
  • Washington State Employment Security Department: (http://fortress.wa.gov/esd/portal/)

• Research for prevention of workplace injuries and occupational diseases.
• The occupational and public health researchers, toxologists and ergonomists in L&I’s “SHARP” program conduct research aimed at finding new ways to improve workplace safety and health conditions.
  • Contact: Elaine Fischer, 360-902-5413
  • Helpful links:(Safety and health research: (www.SHARP.LNI.wa.gov/)

• Small Business Liaison.
• Contact Celia Nightingale, 360-902-4865, if you're a small business owner or manager and you:
  • Need to find the right person at L&I to help you.
  • Want some information quickly.
  • Have a problem you can't solve through your regular L&I contacts.

• Spanish-language outreach.
• L&I has an active outreach program to ensure our Spanish-speaking customers have equal access to information about their rights, benefits and legal obligations. We have more than 100 employees throughout Washington who serve customers in Spanish. Our Spanish Language Editorial Board meets regularly and, so far, has translated more than 200 important letters, forms, legal documents and informational publications into Spanish. Information in Spanish is also distributed by radio and print media and through many local organizations.
  • Contact: Lisa Heaton, 360-902-5411
  • Helpful links:(Spanish Web site: (www.Lni.wa.gov/Spanish)

• Registration, licensing and certification of trade contractors.
• L&I registers building contractors, licenses electricians and certifies plumbers.
  • Contact: Dana Botka, 360-902-5405
  • Helpful links:
  • Registration and licensing trades: (www.Lni.wa.gov/TradesLicensing/)
  • Hiring a contractor—What you should know: (www.Lni.wa.gov/IPUB/625-084-000.pdf)

• Workers' compensation system.
• The Washington State Department of Labor & Industries runs a workers' compensation system that insures about 2.3 million workers employed by approximately 173,000 employers -- about 70 percent of the state's workforce.
  
  The other 30 percent work for companies and government agencies that self-insure. L&I monitors self-insured employers to ensure their workers receive the same level of benefits.
  
  Workers' compensation protects workers from the potentially devastating effects of a workplace injury or illness, and employers from tort claims that might otherwise result from such an injury.
  
  Washington's workers' compensation system is compulsory. It's the eighth-largest in the nation, with assets of more than $11 billion. L&I collects premiums and pays out benefits of about $1.4 billion annually.
  
  Washington is the only state where workers pay a significant portion of premiums. This year, their share averages 25 percent.

• Workplace safety education.
• L&I’s Division of Occupational Safety and Health (DOSH) offers training and outreach services to help employers meet workplace safety and health requirements. Use the helpful links below to learn about these services.
  • Contact: Elaine Fischer, 360-902-5413
  • Helpful links:
  • Online courses: (www.Lni.wa.gov/Safety/TrainTools/Online/)
  • Safety trainer resources: (www.Lni.wa.gov/Safety/TrainTools/Trainer/)
  • Workshops: (www.Lni.wa.gov/Safety/TrainTools/Workshops/)
  • Safety training videos: (www.Lni.wa.gov/Safety/TrainTools/Videos/)
  • Publications: (www.Lni.wa.gov/FormPub/)
  • Governor’s Industrial Safety and Health Conference: (www.Lni.wa.gov/Safety/TrainTools/GovConf/)

• Workplace/wage complaints.
• Workers have a right to minimum wage, overtime, rest and meal breaks, prevailing wage (on public works projects) and other basic protections. They may report problems to L&I. L&I also enforces laws ensuring that children and teens are not working long hours or hazardous jobs.
  • Contact: Dana Botka, 360-902-5405
  • Helpful links:
  • Employing teenagers: (www.Lni.wa.gov/ipub/700-022-000.pdf)
  • Questions about workplace fairness: (www.Lni.wa.gov/WorkplaceRights/)
  • Teen job safety: (www.Lni.wa.gov/WorkplaceRights/TeenWorkers/)
  • Wage claim form: (www.Lni/wa.gov/forms/pdf/F700-146-000.pdf)
  • Information about Washington’s Whistleblower Act: (www.sao.wa.gov/)