by colleen m. connor
You are hurt on the job. The supervisor seems irritated and hands you a bunch of confusing "accident report forms" to fill out. You are in pain, and have many questions .
Are these the correct forms for the nature of my injury? Where do those forms actually go once they are completed? What are they used for?
The supervisor does his/her part (sometimes not properly) and sends you off for treatment. What happens after that? More often than not, supervisors don’t have much knowledge about the process, so asking them won’t get you anywhere.
Their main focus is obtaining medical treatment for you, and getting your assignment covered — sometimes not necessarily in that order. Often letter carriers feel isolated and helpless when they get hurt.
Sounds like a nightmare, and it often is for many letter carriers. Who would ever imagine that being hurt on the job can be such a long and drawn out process? But, most unfortunately, it is.
Every single day, letter carriers get injured at work. Every single day, letter carriers realize that they may be suffering from an occupational illness. These are indisputable facts, but ones our employer wishes not to acknowledge if at all possible.
Injuries and occupational illnesses cost the United States Postal Service a great deal of money, due to medical costs and overtime utilization, etc. We cannot expect our bosses to be very sympathetic or helpful, and often they make the nightmare worse.
What is an 'injury?' An injury is defined as any illness or disease that is caused or aggravated by employment (this includes damage to medical braces, artificial limbs and other prosthetic devices). There are two basic types of injury:
Basic OD’s are due to repeated exposure to something in the person’s employment which causes injury. A medical statement is needed which clearly explains that the repeated exposure is what caused the injury. Basic OD’s include most claims for skin, orthopedic, virological, infectious and parasitic diseases. Ninety days are allowed to develop the information.
Extended OD’s require extensive research and development by a physician. This is because the nature of the exposure is in question, the relationship of the condition to the exposure isn’t apparent, or the diagnosis is not clearly identified. These cases are allowed 180 days for preparation of medical documentation.
If the DOL doctor finds that there are no residual effects from the injury , this could result in your claim being controverted, a loss of your OWCP benefits, and an order for you to return to full duty.
What do you do first when injured? You must report this to your immediate supervisor as soon as possible. The Postal Service may try to issue discipline if you don’t report the accident in a "timely" manner. Federal Employees have 30 days to file a claim in order to receive COP, and three years to file just a claim of injury with the Department of Labor (no COP), regardless of the Postal Service’s "timely" requirements. If Letter carriers have to follow the rules for both the Dept. of Labor and the USPS. It is always advisable to notify your union representative whenever you are hurt on the job.
Second, you must obtain medical care. Ask your supervisor for a Form CA-16, which authorizes medical care. You have the right to select a physician for initial treatment. You also have the right to obtain medical care without prior authorization.
Make certain your treating physician understands this is a work-related injury. You must supply the physician with proper forms (CA-16 and OWCP-1500HCFA-1500 for billing purposes) as soon as possible.
If this is a Traumatic Injury, you must complete the employee’s section of Form CA-1. This must be completed and submitted within 30 days of the injury.
For an Occupational Disease, complete Form CA-2. After completing a form CA-1 or CA-2, make sure to get the "Receipt" of Notice of Injury from your supervisor for your records. If the supervisor didn’t give it to you, be sure to ask for it.
Suggestion: create a personal file at home for all documents pertaining to your injury, because there might be a lot of paperwork generated (receipt of notice of injury, doctor’s notes and summaries, CA forms, postcards and letters from the department of Labor, 3971's, etc.).
Always copy everything you submit to management, whether they have completed their parts or not. It is advisable to keep all paperwork permanently, even if you change crafts or get a job outside of the Postal Service someday.
Years down the road, something could happen in relation to a previous injury, such as the need for a future claim, and the reference materials in your file would be very useful.
If you become disabled due to traumatic injury, you may claim continuation of pay (COP) not to exceed 45 calendar days or use leave. A claim for COP must be submitted no later than 30 days after the injury.
Medical evidence must be submitted within 10 working days after the injury. If you are disabled beyond the covered COP time, or if you are not entitled to COP, you may claim compensation on Form CA-7 or use leave.
If you are disabled due to an occupational disease, you may file a claim for compensation on Form CA-7 or use leave. Any claim for compensation for disability should be submitted as soon as possible once it is obvious that you are disabled and will enter a leave-without-pay status.
If your supervisors don’t have the necessary forms, or if they refuse to give them to you, contact your union representatives to get photocopies of the forms and submit them to the Department of Labor. Include a letter of explanation as to why copies were sent in lieu of originals, and the name(s) of management who refused to give you original forms.
Someone from the Department of Labor will directly contact those management personnel and inform them of their responsibilities and the law, both by phone and in writing if necessary.
Your union representatives will assist you with any grievances or other charges which may be filed as a result. By law, your employer cannot refuse to provide you with the forms, nor can it refuse to accept them once completed.
Remember, always make photocopies of everything you submit to management, whether it’s complete or not.
According to the Department of Labor regulations, management must submit the Employees' Notice of Injury to them within 10 working days or 14 calendar days of receiving it from employee. Unfortunately, this doesn’t always happen.
Often it takes weeks longer due to a huge backlog of incoming forms or lack of personnel to handle all the work.
Interesting facts: USPS has the highest record of timely submission of CA-1/CA2's among all Federal Agencies, at a rate of 52% between January 1-March 31, 1997. During that same time period, the Fort Wayne area showed a 66% timeliness in submission of those forms within 14 calendar days; Gary showed 56.9%, and Indianapolis was at 46.1%.
What qualifies as injured "on the job?" Please read the following (ECAB — Employee Compensation Appeals Board) rulings for definitions:
"It is a general rule of workmen’s compensation law that, as to employees having fixed hours and a place of work, injuries occurring on the premises of the employing establishment, while the employees are going to or from work, before or after working hours, or at lunch time are compensable." — Harry A Moquin, 37 ECAB 416 (1986)
"The course of employment for employees having fixed time and place of work includes a
Reasonable interval will ultimately be decided by the Department of Labor, Office of worker’s Compensation, based on information submitted by yourself, witnesses and your supervisors.
Don’t misread the above statements and think that you are automatically protected in case of injury on the premises, during lunch breaks, etc. There are many factors which could affect your coverage.
Be sure to write clear, thorough and very specific statements, and try to secure any witness statements to help your case.
Deviation from assignment and potential loss of benefits:
Please, don’t deviate from your assignment without authorization from your immediate supervisor. If you are injured in an accident while deviating without permission, you may be ineligible for compensation and could be terminated.
If you are killed while deviating without permission, your family may not get your benefits. Your employer will try very hard to show that you are ineligible for benefits.
You will have to try to explain the necessity for being somewhere other than your assignment, and argue strongly that the accident site was in some way related to the travel to/within/from your assignment.
The best thing to do is notify your immediate supervisor if there is a need to go someplace other than what is listed in your route book during the work day. Otherwise, there is a very great risk of losing everything you’ve worked so hard for.
It is very important to get treatment for occupational illness from physicians who specialize in the type of illness you suffer from. Otherwise, the Department of Labor may send you to a doctor of their choice for further evaluation.
Sister Connor is a member of National Association of Letter Carriers Branch No. 1, Detroit, MI. She is a union steward at Parkgrove Station, 14461 E 7 Mile, Detroit, MI, 48205.The information for this article was obtained by her during a two day Office of Worker’s Compensation Union Seminar she attended in Cleveland, OH, April 23rd — 24th, 1997 There will be a series of related articles in the near future based on this seminar. This article reprinted here by permission of the author and courtesy of the Summit City Mailbag, Thom Green, Editor, monthly publication of Summit City Branch No.116. NALC, Fort Wayne, IN.
Back to NALC Branch 466