This bill reenacts and amends RCW 51.36.070 to impose new procedures for medical examinations ordered by the department or a self‑insurer and to give injured workers the right to record those examinations. It modifies existing law rather than creating an entirely new chapter. Recordings of examinations authorized under RCW 51.36.070, RCW 51.32.110, or by the Board of Industrial Insurance Appeals must be made only through a department‑approved, application‑based third‑party recording platform; independent recordings and local copies are prohibited. The statute makes recordings confidential, limits release to processes governed by department rules, and requires the vendor to provide secure access in accordance with those rules. The bill sets technical and procedural requirements for the platform and recordings: the platform must allow initiation by the worker (or at the worker’s request the examiner), capture accurate continuous audio and video without interfering with the exam, automatically upload to secure vendor storage, meet minimum cybersecurity standards (encryption, multifactor authentication, and state IT requirements), and retain recordings for the life of the claim and at least 10 years after final closure or litigation. Workers may have one adult observer present during an exam with specified exclusions. Costs for the recording platform and retention are part of the costs of the claim, and the director may charge examination costs to a self‑insurer or the medical aid fund. The worker or representative must notify the scheduler at least seven calendar days before the exam that it will be recorded. The act takes effect July 1, 2027. The bill creates or clarifies a penalty and enforcement regime for misuse of recordings: no person may alter, duplicate, privately store, distribute, or publicly post recordings; violation may trigger repayment and penalties under RCW 51.32.240 and carries a civil penalty of $1,000. Recordings are not subject to public inspection under RCW 51.28.070 except as allowed by department rules. Important aspects are not included in the extracted text: the specific department rules that will govern notification procedures, authorizations for any limited local copies or releases, storage and transfer procedures if a vendor changes, the department’s criteria and process for approving a recording platform and selecting vendors, detailed enforcement procedures for assessing the $1,000 civil penalty or invoking RCW 51.32.240, and whether the term "department" in the section text is explicitly defined as the Department of Labor and Industries.

If enacted, injured workers will be able to make official audio and/or video recordings of medical examinations ordered by the department or a self‑insurer, but only through a department‑approved third‑party app that automatically stores the file on the vendor’s secure servers. Workers must tell the scheduler at least seven days before the exam, may bring one adult observer who cannot be their lawyer or treating provider, and providers and employers will have to accept and arrange for use of the approved platform. Recordings are confidential, must be retained by the vendor for the life of the claim and at least 10 years after final closure, and costs for the platform and retention are treated as part of the claim and can be charged to self‑insurers or the medical aid fund. The groups most affected are injured workers (who gain the option to record exams but lose the ability to make independent copies), medical examiners and employers/self‑insurers (who will face new logistical steps and likely added claim costs), and third‑party vendors (who gain business but must meet state cybersecurity and retention rules). There is a civil penalty for unauthorized use or distribution of recordings and potential repayment penalties; however, key implementation details are unclear from the text provided, including how the department will select and approve vendors, the exact department rules governing access and allowable copies, and the enforcement procedures for penalties.