What Occurs When There is a Fatality at my Business?

Each day, as many as 13 people are killed on the job somewhere in the United States. That is an average of 92 deaths per week or 3.4 per 100,000 full time equivalent workers.  In 2014, 4,821 workers were killed on the job.

At Hausmann-Johnson Insurance, we hope that this never occurs to you. If it would, let us help you walk through what steps should be taken and what benefits may be paid out on behalf of the deceased.

Steps to Take

If something does happen, please call us immediately and/or call your insurance carrier to make a report. You will also need to report directly to the Workers’ Compensation Division at 608-266-1340 within the same day or as soon as you are advised of the incident.

If a third party is involved, such as a machine that malfunctioned, you will be asked to turn over records about the machine. This includes the date it was purchased, the manufacturer, the serial number of the machine, maintenance records from your own internal staff, and maintenance records from anyone externally that provides regular maintenance from the manufacturer. Be sure to put one person in charge of the machine so that no one alters the accident site.  Your insurance carrier may want to hire a Safety Engineer to look at the machine during the investigation of this claim.

Other outside agencies that will be involved and will have reports available to you or your insurance carrier may include:

• an ambulance service
• a police agency
• the coroner’s office.

A death certificate must be supplied to the insurance carrier by the surviving spouse or domestic partner.

Compensability

If there is a question of whether the fatality occurred in the course and scope of employment, your insurance carrier will be verifying facts with you directly in the form of a statement that will include:

• wage for the prior 52 weeks from date of death
• time card information
• job description
• statements from co-workers who may have witnessed the incident
• supervisor’s and plant manager’s reports

Eligibility

Your insurance carrier strictly adheres to state workers compensation statutes and they clearly dictate what investigation needs to be done to determine who, if anyone, is eligible for benefits.

Under Wisconsin workers compensation statute, 102.46, Death benefit, it indicates: where death proximately results from the injury and the deceased leaves a person wholly dependent upon him or her for support, the death benefit shall equal four times his or her average annual earnings. A statement is taken from the surviving spouse or domestic partner as to his or her dependency on the deceased for monetary support.  A certificate of marriage will be requested as well.

If no person who survives the deceased employee is wholly dependent upon the deceased employee for support, partial dependency and death benefits therefore shall be as follows under Wisconsin workers compensation statute 102.48:

1. An unestranged surviving parent or parents to whose support the deceased has contributed less than $500.00 in the 52 weeks preceding the injury causing death shall receive a death benefit of $6500.
2. Death benefit, other than burial expenses, except as otherwise provided, shall be paid in monthly payments corresponding in amount to two thirds of the weekly earnings of the employee up to a maximum of $4056.00 monthly or a total of $280,800.
3. Burial expenses are paid up to a maximum of $10,000.00 and are separate from the monthly death benefits.
4. Dependents entitled to death benefits if solely and wholly dependent for support upon a deceased employee:
   • A wife living with a husband at the time of his death
   • A husband living with his wife at the time of her death
   • A domestic partner who is living with a partner at the time of their death
   • A child under age 18 years upon the parent with whom he or she is living at the time of death of the parent, there being no surviving dependent parent
   • A child over 18 year of age, but physically or mentally incapacitated from earning, upon the parent with whom he or she is living at the time of death of the parent, there being no surviving dependent parent
5. Payment into the State Fund under 102.49 (5) a; in each case of injury resulting in death, the employer or insurer shall pay into the state treasury the sum of $20,000.00. This is a supplemental benefit fund by employers and insurers for injuries resulting in death.
6. If there are no dependents for a deceased worker, the employer or insurance carrier shall pay into the state treasury the amount of the death benefit otherwise payable in five equal annual installments with the first installment due as of the date of death.

This is a very brief overview of our state’s death benefits and in some claims, the dependency can become complicated.

If you or your staff have any questions in regards to death benefits, please do not hesitate to contact our Claims Department for further discussion at 608-257-3795