DOL.DOCTOR — OWCP Treatment Specialists

For HR, safety and TPAs

The employer toolkit: respond to a work injury correctly, from minute one

Three practical tools, no signup: a printable injury-response checklist, a decision tool that tells you whether a claim is federal or state, and a referral form that reaches our intake coordinator directly.

Injury response checklistFederal or state?Send a referral

Tool 1

Work injury response checklist

Print this and put it where the supervisor on shift can reach it. Most claim cost is decided in the first hour and the first week, long before anyone reviews a bill.

First 15 minutes

  • Make the scene safe and provide first aid; call 911 for anything emergent.
  • Identify the injured employee, the supervisor on duty and any witnesses.
  • Note the exact time, location and task being performed when the injury occurred.
  • Photograph the area and any equipment involved before it is moved.

First hour

  • Determine whether this is a federal (FECA/OWCP) or state claim — the answer changes who may direct care.
  • For a Missouri or Kansas state claim, confirm authorization and send the employee to an authorized clinic.
  • For a federal employee, provide the correct form (CA-1 or CA-2) and do not assign a physician; the employee chooses.
  • Call the clinic so the visit is expected: KC (816) 452-4488 / STL (314) 439-1706.
  • Send the written job description with the referral, not after it.

First 24 hours

  • Complete internal incident documentation and the supervisor's statement.
  • Report the claim to your insurer or TPA within your program's required window.
  • Arrange post-accident testing if your policy requires it, ideally at the same visit.
  • Collect the first duty status report and confirm the written restrictions are specific enough to staff.

First week

  • Identify transitional-duty tasks that fit the restrictions and put the assignment in writing.
  • Set a check-in cadence with the employee and a review date for the restrictions.
  • Correct any OSHA recordability determination and log entry.
  • Review what happened with the crew and address the hazard, not just the paperwork.

Ongoing

  • Track lost days and modified days separately — they tell different stories.
  • Ask for an updated duty status at each meaningful change, not just at discharge.
  • At maximum medical improvement, request the impairment rating and the full-duty release in writing.
  • Debrief the claim: what would have prevented it, and what slowed the return to work.

Tool 2

Federal or state? Answer two questions

Getting this wrong is the most expensive early mistake in workers' compensation — it determines the forms, the deadlines and, critically, whether the employer may direct medical care at all.

Step 1 of 2

Who employs the injured worker?

This single question decides which system the claim belongs to — and the systems have different forms, different timelines and different rules about who chooses the doctor.

Tool 3

Refer an employee

Send a referral

Fill this in and it opens an email to our intake coordinator with everything we need. Do not include medical details beyond what is necessary to schedule.

Send referral by emailOr call KC (816) 452-4488

For a federal employee, a referral to us cannot substitute for the worker's own choice of treating physician under FECA. Agencies may refer for fitness-for-duty evaluations, second opinions, impairment ratings and return-to-work planning.