Longshore & Harbor Workers Compensation Act

At Davis & Crump we handle claims under the Longshore and Harbor Workers' Compensation Act. The Longshore and Harbor Workers' Compensation Act (LHWCA) provides medical benefits, compensation for lost wages and rehabilitation services to maritime workers who are injured during the course of employment or suffer from diseases caused or worsened by conditions of employment. The LHWCA covers:

• Any Person Engaged in Longshoring Operations
• Harbor-Workers
• Stevedores
• Ship Repairmen
• Shipbuilders / Ship-Breakers

The LHWCA is a federal law that was enacted to provide for those employees in occupations having a traditional relationship to maritime employment injured while loading or unloading vessels, or those involved in the construction or repair of ships. Any worker who is injured on a pier, dry dock, wharf or shipping terminal may be compensated under the Act. Workers injured near these facilities may also be compensated if their normal occupation involves loading, unloading, building or repairing ships.

An injured worker is entitled to receive medical care and income benefits under the LHWCA. If an injured longshore worker is unable to work because of his or her injury, then temporary disability benefits are paid monthly. The LHWCA also allows the injured employee the right to choose his or her own treating doctor. Normally, claims can be handled through an informal conference so that claimants and their employers can discuss the issues and voluntarily resolve their disputes. Other claims involve a formal hearing before an Administrative Law Judge.

Please contact us at 1-800-277-0300 or send us an email at info@daviscrump.com if you have a question about an injury in the scope of your employment as a maritime worker.