The Defense Base Act (42 U.S.C. 1651) (DBA) is a workers’ compensation law that extends the benefits of the Longshore and Harbor Workers’ Compensation Act to employees outside of the continental United States under certain circumstances (under the DBA Alaska and Hawaii are part of the Continental U.S.). It was passed in 1941, supplemented in 1942 by the War Hazards Compensation Act, and amended in 1953 and 1958 to broaden its coverage.
Since September 2001 there have been nearly 60,000 injuries reported under the DBA, including nearly 2,000 deaths. There are a lot of civilian contractors working overseas on government contracts.
The DBA covers the following employment activities:
If you have employees working overseas then you should be thinking about the Defense Base Act.
Coverage
Here are the top ten things that you should know about DBA coverage: