OWCP allowing federal employee workers compensation paper files to be destroyed

Beginning in 2003, OWCP migrated from maintaining federal employees' workers compensation claims as paper files to an imaged system. When there is no activity for an extended period, paper files are shipped off to the federal record center. The federal record center destroys files after 15 years. If you had a pre 2003 paper file that is now considered a "retired" file, meaning it has been shipped off to the federal record center, you are at risk of your paper file being destroyed. This recently arose for a new client of mine who sustained an ACL injury in the early 1990s, underwent surgical repair, recuperated, and returned to work. Now he is being told he needs to consider a knee replacement procedure, but OWCP reports that they cannot retrieve his file. It was shipped off to the federal record center in 2003, and the federal record center routinely destroyed the file in 2016.

If you have an old injury and OWCP sent the file to the federal record center, if you do not have a completed copy of your file, you should make OWCP send you a copy before its too late.