§ 97-81.  Blank forms and literature; statistics; safety provisions; accident reports; studies and investigations and recommendations to General Assembly; to cooperate with other agencies for prevention of injury.

(a) The Commission shall prepare and cause to be printed, and upon request furnish, free of charge to any employee or employer, such blank forms and literature as it shall deem requisite to facilitate or prompt the efficient administration of this Article. Notwithstanding G.S. 150B-2(8a)d., any new forms or substantive amendments to old forms adopted after July 1, 2013, shall be adopted in accordance with Article 2A of Chapter 150B of the General Statutes. The Commission may authorize the use of electronic submission of forms and other means of transmittal of forms and notices when it deems appropriate.

(b) The Commission shall tabulate the accident reports received from employers in accordance with G.S. 97-92 and shall publish the same in the annual report of the Commission and as often as it may deem advisable, in such detailed or aggregate form as it may deem best. The name of the employer or employee shall not appear in such publications, and the employers' reports shall be private records of the Commission, and shall not be open for public inspection except for the inspection of the parties directly involved, and only to the extent of such interest, and except for inspection by the Department of Labor and other State or federal agencies pursuant to subsections (d) and (e) of this section. These reports shall not be used as evidence against any employer in any suit at law brought by any employee for the recovery of damages.

(c) Repealed by Session Laws 2017-203, s. 5, effective August 11, 2017.

(d) In making such studies and investigations the Commission shall:

(1) Cooperate with any agency of the United States charged with the duty of enforcing any law securing safety against injury in any employment covered by this Article, or with any State agency engaged in enforcing any laws to assure safety for employees, and

(2) Permit any such agency to have access to the records of the Commission.

In carrying out the provisions of this section the Commission or any officer or employee of the Commission is authorized to enter at any reasonable time upon any premises, tracks, wharf, dock, or other landing place, or to enter any building, where an employment covered by this Article is being carried on, and to examine any tool, appliance, or machinery used in such employment.

(e) The Commission shall, upon written request from the Commissioner of Labor, provide from the Commission's records the following information from claims filed by employees, and from employer reports of injury to an employee required by G.S. 97-92:

(1) Name and business address of the employer;

(2) Type of business of the employer;

(3) Date the accident, illness, or injury occurred;

(4) Nature of the injury or disease reported; and

(5) Whether compensation for disability or medical expenses was paid to the injured employee.

Information provided to the Commissioner of Labor pursuant to this subsection, and to other State and federal agencies pursuant to subsection (d) of this section, shall be private and exempt from public inspection to the same extent that records of the Commission are so exempt. (1929, c. 120, s. 55; 1991 (Reg. Sess., 1992), c. 894, s. 2; 1993 (Reg. Sess., 1994), c. 679, s. 10.2; 2013-294, s. 7; 2017-203, s. 5.)