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Office of Workers' Compensation Programs, Longshore and Harbor Workers'
Compensation Act Case Files.
None.
Division of Longshore and Harbor Workers' Compensation, Office of
Workers' Compensation Programs, Washington, DC 20210, and district offices of
the Office of Workers' Compensation Programs set forth in the Appendix to this
document.
Employees injured or killed while working in private industry who are
covered by the provisions of the Longshore and Harbor Workers' Compensation
Act, the Non-Appropriated Fund Instrumentalities Act, the Defense Base Act, the
War Hazards Act, and the DC Workers' Compensation Act, referred to collectively
herein as the Longshore and Harbor Workers' Compensation Act (LHWCA).
This system may contain the following kinds of records: reports of
injury by the employee and/ or employing agency; claim forms filed by or on
behalf of injured employees covered under the LHWCA or their survivors seeking
benefits under the LHWCA; forms authorizing medical care and treatment; other
medical records and reports; bills and other payments records; compensation
payments records (including section 8(f) payment records); section 8(f)
applications filed by the employer; formal orders for or against the payment of
benefits; transcripts of hearings conducted; and any other medical employer or
personal information submitted or gathered in connection with the claim. The
system may also contain information relating to dates of birth, marriage,
divorce, and death, notes of telephone conversations conducted in connection
with the claim; information relating to vocational and/or medical
rehabilitation plans and progress reports; records relating to court
proceedings, insurance, banking, and employment; articles from newspapers and
insurance, banking and employment; articles from newspapers and other
publications; information relating to other benefits (financial and otherwise)
the claimant or employer may be entitled to; and information received from
various investigative agencies concerning possible violations of Federal civil
or criminal law.
33 U.S.C. 901 et seq. (20 CFR parts 701 et seq.); 36 DC Code 501 et
seq.; 42 U.S.C. 1651 et seq.; 43 U.S.C. 1331 et seq.; 5 U.S.C. 8171 et seq.
To maintain records on the actions of insurance carriers, employers,
and injured workers with respect to injuries reported under the Longshore and
Harbor Workers' Compensation Act and related Acts, to ensure that eligible
claimants receive appropriate benefits as provided by the Act.
In addition to those universal routine uses listed in the General
Prefatory Statement to this document, disclosure of information from this
system of records may also be made to the following individuals and entities
for the purposes noted when the purpose of the disclosure is compatible with
the purpose for which the information was collected:
a. The employer or its representatives, including third-party
administrators, and/or any party providing the employer with workers'
compensation insurance coverage since the employer and insurance carrier are
parties-in-interest to all actions on a case, for the purpose of assisting in
the litigation of the claim, at any time after report of the injury or report
of the onset of the occupational illness, or the filing of a notice of injury
or claim related to such injury or occupational illness.
b. Doctors, pharmacies, and other health care providers for the purpose
of treating the claimant, conducting medical examinations, physical
rehabilitation or other services or obtaining medical evaluations.
c. Public or private rehabilitation agencies to whom the injured worker
has been referred for vocational rehabilitation services so that they may
properly evaluate the injured worker's experience, physical limitations and
future employment capabilities.
d. Federal, state and local agencies conducting similar or related
investigations to verify whether prohibited dual benefits were provided,
whether benefits have been or are being paid properly, including whether dual
benefits prohibited by federal law are being paid; salary offset and debt
collection procedures including those actions required by the Debt Collection
Act of 1982.
e. Labor unions and other voluntary associations from which the
claimant has requested assistance in connection with the processing of the
LHWCA claim.
f. Attorneys or other persons authorized to represent the interests of
the LHWCA claimant in connection with a claim for benefits under the LHWCA,
and/or a LHWCA beneficiary in connection with a claim for damages filed against
a third party.
g. Internal Revenue Service for the purpose of obtaining taxpayer
mailing addresses in order to locate a taxpayer to collect, compromise, or
write-off a Federal claim against such taxpayer; discharging an indebtedness
owed by an individual.
h. Trust funds that have demonstrated to the OWCP a right to a lien
under 33 U.S.C. 917, for the purpose of permitting the trust funds to identify
potential entitlement to payments upon which the trust funds may execute the
lien.
Disclosure of information contained
in the file to the claimant, a person who is duly authorized to act on his/her
behalf, or to others to whom disclosure is authorized by these routine uses,
may be made over the telephone. Disclosure over the telephone will only be done
where the requestor provides appropriate identifying information. Telephonic
disclosure of information is essential to permit efficient administration and
adjudication of claims.
Pursuant to 5 U.S.C. §
552a(b)(1), information from this system of records is disclosed to members and
staff of the Office of Administrative Law Judges, the Benefits Review Board,
the Office of the Solicitor and other components of the Department who have a
need for the record in the performance of their duties.
None.
Case files are maintained in manual files and magnetic tapes.
Case files are retrieved after identification by coded file number,
which is cross-referenced to injured worker by name.
Files are maintained under supervision of OWCP personnel during normal
working hours. Files and magnetic tapes are maintained in locked offices after
normal working hours. Confidential passwords are required for access to
automated records.
Time retained varies by type of case, ranging from lost-time disability
cases, in which records are destroyed 20 years after the case is closed, to
other cases where the last possible beneficiary has died, in which the records
are destroyed 6 years and 3 months after the death of such beneficiary. "No
Lost Time" cases are destroyed three years after the end of the fiscal year
during which the related report was received.
Director for Longshore and Harbor Workers' Compensation, U.S.
Department of Labor, 200 Constitution Avenue, NW, Washington, DC 20210; and
District Directors at the district offices set forth in the Appendix.
Requests, including name, date of injury, employer at time of injury,
and case file number, if known, should be addressed to the system manager
listed above, at the office where the case is located.
Individuals wishing to request access to records should contact the
system manager indicated above.
Individuals wishing to contest the contents of a record should contact
the appropriate System Manager.
Information is obtained from injured employees, their qualified
dependents, employers, insurance carriers, physicians, medical facilities,
educational institutions, attorneys, and State, Federal, and private vocational
rehabilitation agencies.
None.
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