Injury Claim Rates Increasing in WHCA and DBA
Industrial accident injury claim rates are not falling in all areas. Last month I attended the NNCI 2024 Annual AIS in Orlando. One of the astounding statistics was the claims frequency had decreased over 4% in 2022 and 8% in 2023. Check out the graph here.
I came across a March 2024 US Department of Labor (USDOL) Longshoremen’s Conference slides while working on an extended project. Download the slides from this page for more info. The slides are worth a look. Two of them covering injury claim rates are included below.
Let us look at the definitions of the WHCA and DBA before we cover the graphs.
The Defense Bas Act and the War Hazards Contractors Act are two similar coverages for injuries that occur outside of the US.
WHCA – All U.S. government contractors and subcontractors are required by federal law to obtain workers’ compensation coverage for civilian employees who work overseas. The WHCA provides full federal reimbursement of contractor costs for injury or death claims related to “war-risk hazard” pursuant to a worker’s compensation claim. The main purpose of the WHCA is to shift the costs of overseas workers’ compensation from contractors and subcontractors to the U.S. government. Language of the legislative hearings in 1942 suggests that Congress recognized that there are some risks that the private sector cannot calculate or financially take in the normal course of business and are best left to the federal government. (Gary Wickert Law Firm)
DBA – Provides compensation for disability or death to persons employed at the military, air, and naval bases outside the United States.
Bottom Line
The injury claim rates for the workers that protect us overseas spiked in 2020, 2022 and 2023. I will go into the “why”. The numbers speak for themselves as they usually do in most instances.
