Skip to content 
Specialized Healthcare for Military Personnel
Specialized healthcare for military personnel starts with deployment-ready solutions: MOD17 physicals, CENTCOM-compliant vaccines, and dental clearances for global operations. OI’s on-site medical teams ensure DOD and forward-deployed units meet mission requirements with precision.
Department of Defense Occupational Health Compliance for Federal Contractors and DoD Prime Operations
Occucare International delivers physician-governed occupational health programs to Department of Defense prime contractors, subcontractors, and federal contracting employers operating across CONUS bases, OCONUS deployment sites, and the Texas Industrial Corridor – from the Houston Ship Channel and the petrochemical complex through Baytown, Pasadena, Deer Park, La Porte, and Channelview, into Sugar Land, Texas City, and the Gulf Coast energy footprint that supports military logistics, depot operations, and government industrial work. DoD occupational health is not a generic clinical service. It is a federal regulatory function governed by DoD Instruction 6055.01 (DoD Safety and Occupational Health Program), DoD Instruction 6055.05 (Occupational and Environmental Health), DoD Manual 6055.05-M (Occupational Medical Examinations and Surveillance Manual), DA PAM 40-506 (Hearing Conservation), and a stack of contract-specific medical surveillance, deployment clearance, and reporting requirements that civilian occupational health providers routinely fail to address. The contractor whose medical surveillance program defaults to whichever clinic the workforce can find is the contractor failing the next DCMA audit, missing the OCONUS deployment window because medical clearances haven’t cleared, and absorbing the Total Recordable Injury impact that compromises future contract awards.
Occucare’s DoD program is built for the defense contractors who absorb the consequence of every compliance gap – designed around board-certified occupational medicine physicians, DoDI-aligned protocols, MOD-17 deployment medical clearance capability, and DCMA-defensible documentation infrastructure. Every component operates under the same physician governance framework that runs your full occupational health program, with documentation that satisfies federal inspector review, supports contract pre-qualification, and protects your TRI and DART rates across the contract performance cycle.
Board-Certified Occupational Medicine Physicians
DENIX-Ready Reporting Structure
MOD-17 Pre-Deployment Medical Clearance
DCMA-Defensible Documentation
DoDI 6055.01 / 6055.05 Aligned Protocols
HAZWOPER 29 CFR 1910.120 Compliant
Houston-Headquartered, CONUS and OCONUS Coverage
Clinic Hours
- Monday - Friday 7:30 AM - 4:30 PM CST
- +1 713 802 0801
What Is DoD Occupational Health? A Definition for Federal Contractors
In commercial occupational health, the regulatory framework is OSHA, DOT, and applicable state workers’ compensation law. In DoD occupational health, that framework is necessary but insufficient – every commercial requirement is layered with DoD-specific Instructions, contract-specific medical surveillance protocols, deployment-specific clearance standards, and reporting structures that do not exist in the commercial environment. The contractor who treats DoD occupational health as commercial occupational health with extra paperwork is the contractor discovering during the first DCMA audit that the documentation chain doesn’t exist, the surveillance program doesn’t run as written, and the deployment clearances haven’t been processed against the actual standards.
DoD occupational health is the physician-governed, federally-aligned compliance and surveillance program that manages workforce health for federal contractors and DoD prime operations – covering medical surveillance under DoDI 6055.05 and DoD 6055.05-M Medical Matrix, pre-deployment medical clearance under MOD-17 and successor standards, fitness-for-duty determinations for safety-sensitive and security-sensitive positions, industrial hygiene surveillance for HAZWOPER and toxic substance exposure, hearing and vision conservation under DA PAM 40-506, infectious disease compliance for OCONUS deployments, drug and alcohol consortium management under DOT 49 CFR Part 40, and the documentation infrastructure required by DCMA audit protocols and DENIX reporting standards.
In full context, DoD occupational health includes DoDI 6055.01 SOH Program alignment, DoDI 6055.05 OEH Program execution, baseline and periodic medical surveillance per the DoD 6055.05-M Medical Matrix, pre-deployment medical clearances calibrated to OCONUS post requirements, specialized clearances for security-sensitive positions (SF-86 supporting documentation), HAZWOPER pre-employment and periodic exams under 29 CFR 1910.120, audiometric surveillance under DA PAM 40-506 and the DoD Hearing Conservation Program, vision conservation programs, post-exposure surveillance for chemical and biological agents, and the longitudinal health record maintenance that supports both contract compliance and post-employment exposure claim defense.
This is not the same service that retail occupational health clinics, urgent cares, or generalist providers deliver. Those services satisfy commercial OSHA. DoD occupational health satisfies the federal compliance stack that DCMA, the contracting officer’s representative, and post-award audit teams use to evaluate contractor performance – and the documentation gap between the two service categories is exactly where most defense contractors lose contract opportunities, audit findings, and the operational continuity that government contracts require.
The DoDI Compliance Framework - Which Instruction Governs Which Contract Scenario
The single most consequential question in DoD occupational health is which DoD Instruction applies to the specific contract, the specific workforce, and the specific exposure profile. The answer determines what medical surveillance must run, what documentation must be maintained, what deployment clearances must clear, and what reporting must occur. Most generalist providers cannot answer the question – which is the first compliance gap on every defense contract.
DoD Instruction 6055.01 - DoD Safety and Occupational Health (SOH) Program
The umbrella Instruction establishing the DoD-wide Safety and Occupational Health Program framework. DoDI 6055.01 defines the SOH Program structure, assigns program responsibilities across DoD components, establishes the integration of safety and occupational health, and provides the foundation against which contractor SOH programs are evaluated. Federal contractors operating under DoD contracts must align their SOH program with DoDI 6055.01 framework – the contracting officer’s representative and DCMA audit protocols evaluate contractor compliance against this Instruction.
DoD Instruction 6055.05 - Occupational and Environmental Health (OEH)
The Instruction governing occupational and environmental health programs across DoD operations and applicable contractor operations. DoDI 6055.05 establishes the medical surveillance framework, occupational health risk assessment requirements, post-exposure response protocols, and the integration of occupational health with environmental and industrial hygiene programs. For contractors performing work involving occupational exposures, DoDI 6055.05 alignment is the operational standard against which medical surveillance programs are designed and evaluated.
DoD Manual 6055.05-M - Occupational Medical Examinations and Surveillance Manual
The Manual operationalizing DoDI 6055.05 – providing the Medical Matrix that specifies which medical examinations and surveillance components apply to which job classifications, exposure profiles, and operational scenarios. The 6055.05-M Medical Matrix is the working document that occupational medicine physicians use to design DoD-compliant surveillance programs. Contractor medical surveillance programs that don’t reference the Medical Matrix are operating without the technical standard that DCMA evaluates against.
DoD Instruction 6055.12 - DoD Hearing Conservation Program
The Instruction governing hearing conservation across DoD operations, with implementation guidance for noise-exposed workforces in industrial, aviation, and weapons system environments. DA PAM 40-506 provides the technical implementation framework for Army-side operations, with parallel Navy and Air Force documents governing service-specific implementations.
Pre-Deployment Medical Clearance Standards (MOD-17 and Successors)
Medical clearance standards for OCONUS deployment of DoD civilian personnel and contractors are governed by current Combatant Command medical surveillance modifications – historically MOD-17 for CENTCOM operations, with parallel and successor standards for other Combatant Commands and current operations. Pre-deployment medical clearances must satisfy the specific medical, dental, and immunization requirements of the destination Combatant Command, the host nation requirements, and the contract-specific medical fitness standards.
29 CFR 1910.120 - HAZWOPER (Hazardous Waste Operations and Emergency Response)
OSHA’s HAZWOPER Standard governs medical surveillance for workers engaged in hazardous waste operations, emergency response operations, and treatment, storage, and disposal of hazardous waste. DoD contractors performing site remediation, environmental restoration, ammunition demilitarization, and emergency response operations must meet HAZWOPER medical surveillance requirements alongside DoD-specific protocols.
Contract-Specific Medical Surveillance Requirements
Beyond the federal regulatory stack, individual DoD contracts impose contract-specific medical surveillance, deployment clearance, security medical, and reporting requirements based on the specific work scope, the contract type, the prime contractor’s flow-down requirements, and the operational environment. Contract-specific requirements layer on top of the federal stack – they don’t replace it.
The combined framework is dense and the regulatory citations matter. Occucare’s DoD occupational health protocols are designed to satisfy every applicable layer simultaneously – DoDI 6055.01 SOH alignment, DoDI 6055.05 OEH execution, DoD 6055.05-M Medical Matrix application, DoDI 6055.12 hearing conservation, MOD-17 and successor deployment standards, HAZWOPER medical surveillance, and contract-specific requirements imposed by the contracting officer or prime contractor.
Common Questions DoD Contractors Ask Before Engaging an Occupational Health Provider
The answer depends on your contract scope and your workforce's exposure profile, but in practice most DoD contractors operate under the combined framework of DoDI 6055.01 (the SOH Program umbrella), DoDI 6055.05 (the OEH Program execution standard), and DoD 6055.05-M (the Medical Matrix that operationalizes the surveillance components). Layered on these are DoDI 6055.12 for hearing conservation, MOD-17 or successor standards for OCONUS deployment medical clearances, 29 CFR 1910.120 HAZWOPER standards for hazardous waste and emergency response operations, and contract-specific requirements imposed by your prime contractor or the contracting officer. The compliance question is rarely "which one" - it's "all of them, plus the contract-specific overlay." Generalist providers who can only address OSHA cannot deliver DoD-compliant programs. Occucare's protocols are designed against the full federal stack from program intake forward.
DCMA medical surveillance audits evaluate contractor programs against the documented federal regulatory framework and the contract-specific requirements. Expected documentation typically includes: the contractor's written medical surveillance program documenting alignment with DoDI 6055.05 and the DoD 6055.05-M Medical Matrix, exposure assessments for the workforce identifying which job classifications fall into which surveillance categories, the surveillance examination calendar showing baseline, periodic, and exit examinations conducted on schedule, individual medical surveillance records demonstrating examinations were performed against the correct protocols, audiometric records for noise-exposed personnel under DoDI 6055.12, training documentation, post-exposure response documentation for any incidents, and the longitudinal health record infrastructure that supports both current compliance and historical exposure claim defense. Contractors with generic occupational health vendors typically discover during audit that their documentation answers questions DCMA isn't asking and fails to address questions DCMA is asking. Occucare's documentation framework is structured against the federal audit standard.
Standard OCONUS pre-deployment medical clearance - including the medical examination, required immunizations, dental clearance, laboratory testing, and the clearance documentation chain - typically processes in 2-4 weeks from intake to deployment-ready status, depending on the destination Combatant Command requirements and the immunization series required for the specific post. For contracts with compressed deployment timelines, Occucare can compress the clearance window through prioritized scheduling and parallel processing of required components - typically achieving deployment-ready clearance in 7-10 days for standard MOD-17 era profiles. For complex profiles requiring extended immunization series or specialized clearances (security-sensitive positions, aviation, diving, EOD), longer timelines apply per the technical clearance requirements.
Who This DoD Occupational Health Program Is Built For
Occucare’s DoD occupational health program is designed for the federal contractors and DoD operations leaders who absorb the regulatory and contract-performance consequence of every compliance gap – not for individual servicemembers or military dependents seeking medical care.
DoD Prime Contractors managing medical surveillance, deployment clearance, and DCMA compliance across multi-site contract performance, where every audit finding represents a potential past performance impact on future contract awards
Defense Subcontractors flowing down medical surveillance and deployment clearance requirements from prime contractor agreements, where program failures cascade into prime contractor relationships
Corporate Safety Directors and EHS Managers at Defense Contractors managing DoDI 6055.01 SOH Program alignment, DoDI 6055.05 OEH execution, and the documentation chain required for DCMA audit defensibility
HR Compliance Leads at Defense Contractors managing OCONUS deployment medical clearance pipelines, security clearance medical components, contractor onboarding for federal contracts, and the longitudinal health record infrastructure
Risk Managers and Contract Compliance Officers quantifying the contract performance exposure, the past performance evaluation impact, and the financial exposure created by inadequate medical surveillance programs
CFOs and Operations Executives at DoD-Heavy Contractors absorbing the financial impact of failed audits, lost contract awards, and TRI/DART rate impacts on competitive bid posture
Government Contractor Legal Counsel evaluating contractor compliance posture against federal regulatory standards, requiring physician-governed protocols that produce DCMA-defensible documentation
Industries served:
Prime defense contractors, defense subcontractors operating across CONUS bases and OCONUS deployment sites, environmental remediation contractors performing DoD work, ammunition demilitarization and ordnance contractors, military housing and BOS (Base Operating Support) contractors, defense logistics and depot operations, government-owned contractor-operated (GOCO) facility operators, ship repair and Navy contracting, aviation and aerospace defense contracting, and military construction contractors across the Houston metropolitan area, the Texas Industrial Corridor, Gulf Coast support operations, and CONUS/OCONUS contract sites.
The Five Compliance Categories That Drive DoD Contractor Medical Programs
Most DoD occupational health compliance requirements fall into one of five categories. Each carries a distinct regulatory framework, a distinct clinical scope, and a distinct documentation requirement. Understanding which category applies to which workforce determines how the medical program must be structured to satisfy DCMA audit and contract performance review.
Medical Surveillance Under DoDI 6055.05 and DoD 6055.05-M Medical Matrix
The foundational compliance category for any DoD contractor with workforces subject to occupational exposures. Medical surveillance applies to workforces with documented exposure to chemical stressors (lead, hexavalent chromium, silica, asbestos, beryllium, isocyanates, solvents, heavy metals), physical stressors (noise, vibration, temperature extremes, ionizing radiation), biological stressors (bloodborne pathogens, infectious disease in healthcare-adjacent operations), and ergonomic stressors. The DoD 6055.05-M Medical Matrix specifies which examinations apply to which exposures – baseline at hire or assignment, periodic at defined intervals, post-exposure following documented incidents, and exit at separation or assignment change.
Pre-Deployment Medical Clearance for OCONUS Operations
DoD civilian and contractor personnel deploying OCONUS face medical clearance requirements specific to the destination Combatant Command – historically MOD-17 for CENTCOM operations, with parallel and successor standards for other Commands and current operations. Pre-deployment medical clearance components typically include comprehensive medical examination, dental clearance, vision and hearing baselines, laboratory testing (HIV, HBV, HCV, others as required), required immunizations (anthrax, smallpox, typhoid, yellow fever, hepatitis A and B, others as regionally indicated), malaria prophylaxis where applicable, traveler’s health counseling, and the clearance documentation that the contracting officer’s representative reviews before deployment authorization.
Industrial Hygiene Surveillance and HAZWOPER Compliance
DoD contractors performing environmental remediation, hazardous waste operations, ammunition demilitarization, ordnance disposal, and emergency response operations are subject to 29 CFR 1910.120 HAZWOPER medical surveillance requirements layered with DoD-specific protocols. The combined surveillance includes baseline medical examinations, periodic surveillance at defined intervals (typically annually for hazardous waste operations workers), post-exposure examinations following documented incidents, and exit examinations. The medical examinations are calibrated to the specific exposure profile of the work being performed – heavy metals surveillance for lead and chromium operations, organophosphate surveillance for chemical demilitarization, radiation dosimetry integration for radiological work.
Fitness-for-Duty and Security-Sensitive Position Clearance
Federal contractor positions with safety-sensitive components (aviation, diving, explosive ordnance disposal, weapons handling) and security-sensitive components (positions requiring active SF-86 processing, National Security Sensitive determinations, Public Trust positions) require fitness-for-duty determinations calibrated to the specific clearance standards. Medical clearance components for these positions typically extend beyond standard occupational health to include cognitive screening, behavioral health evaluation within ADA scope, vision and color vision testing for aviation roles, hyperbaric medicine evaluation for diving positions, and the specific medical components required by position-specific medical fitness standards.
Data Management and Federal Reporting Standards
DoD occupational health programs operate against federal reporting and data management standards that don’t exist in commercial occupational health. The Defense Environmental Network and Information eXchange (DENIX) provides the centralized DoD platform for environment, safety, and occupational health information sharing – and contractor data is increasingly required to integrate with DENIX-aligned reporting structures. Longitudinal health record management is critical for both current compliance and post-employment exposure claim defense – particularly for chemical and biological agent exposure that may produce health effects years after exposure ceased.
What Happens When DoD Occupational Health Is Managed Generically
When defense contractor medical surveillance defaults to generalist occupational health vendors without DoD-specific expertise – or when programs are designed against OSHA standards alone without DoDI alignment – the consequences land on contract performance, audit findings, and competitive bid posture. If any of the following describes your current infrastructure, the gaps are closeable.
Medical Surveillance Programs Designed Against OSHA but Not DoDI
The most common DoD contractor compliance failure is a written medical surveillance program that satisfies OSHA but doesn’t reference DoDI 6055.05, doesn’t apply the DoD 6055.05-M Medical Matrix, and doesn’t acknowledge DoDI 6055.01 SOH Program structure. The program may pass OSHA review while failing DCMA audit because the federal regulatory framework being applied is incomplete. The contractor with an “OSHA-compliant” surveillance program has an OSHA-compliant program – not a DoD-compliant program. The two are not the same.
DCMA Audits Producing Findings on Documentation Format and Completeness
DCMA medical surveillance audits routinely produce findings not because contractors lack medical examinations but because the documentation doesn’t satisfy the audit standard. Examination records that don’t reference the applicable surveillance category. Surveillance calendars that document examinations on different intervals than the Medical Matrix specifies. Exit examinations missing for separated employees. Audiometric records that don’t satisfy DoDI 6055.12 documentation requirements. Each finding is preventable – and each represents a past performance documentation issue that flows into future contract competition.
OCONUS Deployment Windows Missed Because Medical Clearances Don't Process
A contractor wins a contract requiring OCONUS deployment of personnel within a defined timeline. The medical clearance process is initiated – but the generalist provider doesn’t know which Combatant Command standard applies, doesn’t have the required immunization stocks, doesn’t process the laboratory work in the required format, and doesn’t produce the clearance documentation in the format the contracting officer’s representative expects. The deployment window slips, contract performance milestones are missed, and the prime contractor relationship is damaged. The cost of the missed deployment dwarfs the cost difference between generalist and DoD-specialized occupational health.
TRI and DART Rates Compounding Past Performance Issues
Defense contractor past performance evaluations consider Total Recordable Injury and Days Away/Restricted/Transferred (DART) rates as part of the competitive evaluation framework. Generalist occupational health programs that misclassify recordable injuries upward, fail to manage injuries as first aid where clinically appropriate, and lack the case management infrastructure to drive return-to-work produce TRI and DART rates that compound across performance periods – directly impacting future contract award probability.
HAZWOPER Surveillance That Doesn't Match the Actual Work Performed
29 CFR 1910.120 medical surveillance must be calibrated to the actual hazardous substances being handled, the actual operational scenarios, and the actual exposure routes. Generic HAZWOPER physicals that test against a default panel rather than the specific exposure profile of the contract work fail both OSHA and DoD audit standards – and create the documentation gap that defends against future medical exposure claims when the contract closes.
Information Management Gaps Between Civilian Providers and DoD Health Systems
DoD personnel and contractor medical records frequently fragment across military health systems, civilian provider networks, and contractor-managed records. The longitudinal health record that should support both current contract compliance and historical exposure documentation breaks at every transition. Occupational health vendors without DENIX-aligned data structures and longitudinal record infrastructure contribute to the fragmentation rather than solving it.
Pre-Qualification Failures on Defense Industry Bids
Major defense industry bids – particularly for OCONUS contracts, hazardous operations, and prime contractor opportunities – increasingly require documented occupational health and medical surveillance compliance as a condition of pre-qualification. Subcontractors and primes without DoD-specialized programs are disqualified at the pre-qual stage or required to implement programs on compressed timelines mid-bid, discovering that DoD occupational health compliance is not optional when the next major opportunity requires it.
Occucare's DoD Occupational Health Program Components
Occucare delivers the full spectrum of DoD contractor occupational health under one physician-governed program. Each component below operates within the federal regulatory framework – DoDI 6055.01, DoDI 6055.05, DoD 6055.05-M Medical Matrix, DoDI 6055.12, and applicable contract-specific requirements – regardless of whether the work is delivered at our Houston clinic, onsite at your facility or contract site, or through our 3,000-clinic vetted network for distributed contractor workforces.
01
DoDI 6055.05 Medical Surveillance Program Design and Execution
Occucare's occupational medicine physicians design medical surveillance programs against the DoD 6055.05-M Medical Matrix, calibrated to your contract scope, your workforce exposure profile, and the contract-specific surveillance requirements imposed by the contracting officer or prime contractor. Program design includes exposure category determination, examination protocol specification, surveillance calendar establishment, baseline and periodic execution, post-exposure response protocols, exit examination protocols, and the documentation infrastructure that satisfies DCMA audit standards. The program is delivered through Occucare's existing Physical Exams infrastructure with DoD-specific protocol overlay.
02
Pre-Deployment Medical Clearance for OCONUS Operations
For DoD contractors deploying personnel OCONUS, Occucare's pre-deployment program addresses the full Combatant Command-specific clearance standard - historically MOD-17 era profiles for CENTCOM and parallel/successor standards for other Combatant Commands. The program includes comprehensive medical examination, dental clearance coordination, required immunization series (anthrax, smallpox, typhoid, yellow fever, hepatitis A and B, others as regionally indicated), laboratory testing per the destination requirements, malaria prophylaxis where applicable, traveler's health counseling, and the clearance documentation chain that the contracting officer's representative requires. The program leverages Occucare's Pre-Employment Services and Infectious Disease Services infrastructure with DoD deployment-specific overlay.
03
HAZWOPER Medical Surveillance Under 29 CFR 1910.120
For DoD contractors performing environmental remediation, hazardous waste operations, ammunition demilitarization, ordnance disposal, and emergency response operations, Occucare's HAZWOPER medical surveillance program addresses the full 29 CFR 1910.120(f) requirements - baseline examination, periodic surveillance (typically annual for hazardous waste operations), post-exposure examinations, and exit examinations - calibrated to the specific exposure profile of the contract work and integrated with DoD-specific industrial hygiene surveillance protocols.
04
Hearing Conservation Under DoDI 6055.12 and DA PAM 40-506
For DoD contractor workforces with documented noise exposure, Occucare's hearing conservation program addresses baseline audiometric examination, annual surveillance audiometry, standard threshold shift identification and follow-up, audiometric record documentation per DoDI 6055.12 standards, and integration with the broader hearing conservation program structure that the contracting officer expects. Program design references DA PAM 40-506 for Army-side operations and parallel service-specific implementation guidance for Navy and Air Force contracts.
05
Fitness-for-Duty for Safety-Sensitive and Security-Sensitive Federal Positions
For federal contractor positions with safety-sensitive components (aviation, diving, EOD, weapons handling) and security-sensitive components (SF-86 processing positions, National Security Sensitive determinations, Public Trust positions), Occucare's fitness-for-duty program delivers position-calibrated medical evaluations integrated with the broader Fit-for-Duty Exams infrastructure. The program addresses the specific medical fitness standards for each position category and produces the clinical documentation required to support agency-level clearance determinations.
06
Industrial Hygiene Surveillance for Toxic Substance Exposure
For DoD contractor workforces with documented exposure to regulated toxic substances - heavy metals (lead, chromium, cadmium, mercury), respiratory hazards (silica, asbestos, beryllium, isocyanates), chemical agents in ammunition and weapons system operations - Occucare's industrial hygiene surveillance integrates with the medical surveillance program to address baseline biomarker testing, periodic biomonitoring, post-exposure response, and the documentation infrastructure that supports both current compliance and post-employment exposure claim defense.
07
Drug and Alcohol Consortium Management Under DOT 49 CFR Part 40
For DoD contractors operating commercial fleets, government-owned vehicles, and safety-sensitive transportation positions, Occucare's drug consortium management program addresses DOT 49 CFR Part 40 compliance integrated with DoD contract-specific drug-free workplace requirements. The program includes pre-employment drug screening, random testing program management, post-accident testing, reasonable suspicion testing, return-to-duty testing, and follow-up testing - all under the same physician governance framework that runs the rest of the DoD program. This integrates with Occucare's DOT Physicals infrastructure.
08
DENIX-Aligned Reporting and Longitudinal Health Record Management
DoD occupational health programs require data management infrastructure that supports both current contract reporting and longitudinal health record maintenance for post-employment exposure claim defense. Occucare's documentation framework is structured for compatibility with DENIX-aligned reporting, HIPAA-compliant storage with appropriate retention periods (29 CFR 1910.1020 mandates exposure records retention for 30 years plus duration of employment), and the longitudinal record infrastructure that supports historical exposure documentation across the full contractor employment lifecycle.
How Occucare's DoD Occupational Health Program Works - From Contract Mobilization to Audit-Ready Compliance
Step 1
Contract Compliance Assessment
Before any clinical service is scheduled, Occucare’s occupational medicine team conducts a structured assessment of your DoD contract scope, applicable DoD Instructions, contract-specific medical surveillance requirements, prime contractor flow-down requirements, deployment requirements, and any current compliance gaps. The assessment produces a documented gap report identifying every area where your current program does not meet DoDI alignment, contract-specific requirements, or DCMA audit standards.
Step 2
Protocol Design Against the Federal Regulatory Stack
Occucare’s board-certified occupational medicine physicians design your DoD-aligned protocols – referencing DoDI 6055.01 SOH framework, DoDI 6055.05 OEH execution standards, DoD 6055.05-M Medical Matrix surveillance components, DoDI 6055.12 hearing conservation requirements, applicable Combatant Command deployment standards, HAZWOPER 29 CFR 1910.120 components where applicable, and contract-specific overlay requirements. Protocol design is contractor-specific, not pulled from generic clinical templates.
Step 3
Workforce Mobilization and Initial Surveillance
Initial surveillance examinations are scheduled and executed against the documented protocol – baseline medical examinations for newly assigned workforce, immediate-start surveillance for at-risk exposure categories, and rapid pre-deployment clearance processing for OCONUS-bound personnel. Mobilization timelines are calibrated to contract performance requirements, with parallel processing of surveillance components to support compressed contract start dates.
Step 4
Ongoing Surveillance Calendar Execution
Periodic surveillance is executed against the documented calendar – annual surveillance for HAZWOPER workforces, surveillance frequencies per Medical Matrix specifications for chemical exposure categories, audiometric surveillance per DoDI 6055.12 schedules, and the renewal calendar that prevents surveillance lapses across the contract performance period. Calendar management is proactive – examinations scheduled before deadlines, not reconstructed reactively when audit notice arrives.
Step 5
Post-Exposure Response and Incident Documentation
When workplace exposure incidents occur – chemical exposures, biological exposures, noise overexposures, occupational injuries – Occucare’s response protocol activates with DoD-aligned post-exposure surveillance, incident documentation per the federal regulatory framework, integration with workers’ compensation claim management through Occucare’s Workplace Injury Case Management infrastructure, and the documentation chain that supports both current contract compliance and any subsequent exposure claim defense.
Step 6
DCMA Audit-Readiness and Federal Reporting
Compliance documentation is maintained continuously – surveillance examination records updated as conducted, calendar tracking maintained against Medical Matrix specifications, incident response documentation generated contemporaneously with events, and the workforce-level compliance dashboard available to safety, HR, and contract compliance leadership. DCMA audit-readiness is maintained as an ongoing state – not assembled reactively when audit notice arrives. Federal reporting is structured for compatibility with DENIX and contract-specific reporting requirements.
Generic Occupational Health vs. Occucare's DoD-Specialized Compliance Program
| Factor | Generic Occupational Health Vendor | Occucare DoD-Specialized Program |
| Regulatory framework | OSHA only | OSHA + DoDI 6055.01/05/12 + 6055.05-M + contract-specific |
| Provider training | General medicine or generic occupational health | Board-certified occupational medicine physicians with DoD program experience |
| Medical Matrix application | Not applied | DoD 6055.05-M Medical Matrix referenced for every surveillance protocol |
| Pre-deployment clearance capability | Not offered or generic travel health | MOD-17 era and successor Combatant Command standards |
| HAZWOPER expertise | Limited | 29 CFR 1910.120 plus DoD-specific industrial hygiene integration |
| DCMA audit defensibility | Records assembled reactively | Audit-ready documentation maintained continuously |
| TRI/DART optimization | Not addressed | Conservative care model protects past performance metrics |
| Multi-site contract performance | Different vendors, different protocols | One program, 3,000+ network locations |
| Documentation format | Clinical notes for patient portal | DCMA-format defensible records |
| DENIX-aligned reporting capability | Not addressed | Structured for compatibility |
| Longitudinal record management | Not maintained | Continuous record across employment lifecycle |
| Cost model | Per-visit pricing | Program-based, contract performance protection built in |
Your DoD compliance posture is either contract-defensible today or it isn’t.
The Financial Case for DoD-Specialized Occupational Health
The cost of DoD occupational health is not the cost of clinical services. It is the cost of failed DCMA audits and the past performance documentation issues that flow into future contract competition, the cost of missed deployment windows and the contract performance milestones that follow, the cost of TRI and DART rate impacts on competitive bid posture, and the cost of inadequate medical surveillance documentation when post-employment exposure claims are filed years after the contract closes.
Past Performance Impact on Future Contract Awards
Federal contractor past performance evaluations consider safety record, audit findings, contract execution history, and TRI/DART rates as material factors in source selection decisions. A contractor with documented DCMA audit findings on medical surveillance compliance carries those findings into every subsequent competitive evaluation. A contractor with elevated TRI rates from inadequate occupational health management carries that rate into every competitive bid. The financial impact of a single lost contract opportunity due to past performance issues frequently exceeds the lifetime cost of a properly structured occupational health program by orders of magnitude.
DCMA Audit Findings and Contract Performance Consequences
DCMA medical surveillance audit findings produce contract performance issues that range from documentation deficiency notifications requiring corrective action plans through more significant findings that can trigger contract suspension, payment withholding, or termination for default in extreme cases. The cost of the corrective action response, the operational disruption of the audit response, and the past performance documentation that follows the contractor into future bids substantially exceed the cost of preventive compliance programs.
OCONUS Deployment Window Failures
A defense contractor with a contract requiring OCONUS deployment of personnel within defined timelines absorbs significant cost when those windows slip due to medical clearance processing failures. Direct costs include penalty clauses in contract performance, the cost of accelerated processing through alternative providers, and potential travel rebooking. Indirect costs include damaged prime contractor relationships, missed performance milestones that flow into past performance evaluation, and the operational disruption of compressed mobilization timelines. The cost differential between standard pre-deployment processing and DoD-specialized processing is fractional compared to a single missed deployment window.
Two-Scenario Cost Comparison - Generic vs. DoD-Specialized Compliance
| Factor | Scenario A: Generic Occupational Health Vendor | Scenario B: Occucare DoD-Specialized Program |
| Workforce | 200 federal contractor personnel, mixed CONUS and OCONUS | 200 federal contractor personnel, mixed CONUS and OCONUS |
| Annual DCMA audit risk | Significant findings expected | Audit-ready documentation maintained |
| Past performance documentation impact | Compounds across contract cycles | Protected through proactive compliance |
| OCONUS deployment timeline | Frequent processing delays | Standard 7-10 day clearance for known profiles |
| Annual TRI/DART impact | Elevated due to misclassified recordables | Protected through conservative care model |
| Surveillance calendar execution | Reactive, gaps common | Proactive with calendar management |
| Lost contract opportunity (typical) | One mid-size contract per cycle from past performance | Minimized through compliance posture protection |
| Annual program cost | Per-service costs across vendors | Fraction of single lost contract opportunity |
The economic argument is not between two clinical service prices. It is between an unmanaged past performance trajectory and a managed compliance posture – and the delta is large enough that the program pays for itself across the contract performance cycle.
Post-Employment Exposure Claim Defense
DoD contractor workforces with chemical, biological, or radiological exposures may produce health claims years or decades after the contract closes – particularly for chemical agent exposure, radiological exposure, and certain heavy metal exposures. The defense against these claims depends entirely on the longitudinal medical record produced during contract performance – surveillance examinations conducted on schedule, exposure documentation maintained continuously, and the record retention infrastructure that supports defense decades after exposure ceased. Contractors without proper longitudinal record infrastructure face exposure liability without the documentation chain that would defend against alleged work-causation.
DoD Contract Categories Served
Prime Contractors and Major Defense Industry Players
DoD prime contractors managing multi-site contract portfolios face the broadest occupational health compliance burden - multiple contract scopes with different surveillance requirements, OCONUS deployment programs, mixed CONUS and OCONUS workforces, and the prime contractor responsibility for subcontractor compliance flow-down. Occucare's prime contractor program standardizes occupational health across the contract portfolio, with consistent documentation, integrated reporting, and the multi-site delivery infrastructure that supports prime contractor compliance posture.
Defense Subcontractors and Tier 2/3 Contractors
Defense subcontractors flowing down medical surveillance and deployment clearance requirements from prime contractor agreements face compliance obligations that may exceed their internal occupational health infrastructure. Occucare's subcontractor program addresses the flow-down requirements specifically - meeting prime contractor expectations on documentation, scheduling, and reporting while integrating with the prime contractor's broader compliance infrastructure.
Environmental Remediation and Site Restoration Contractors
DoD environmental remediation contractors performing site cleanup, brownfield redevelopment, and military base restoration face full HAZWOPER medical surveillance burden alongside DoD-specific industrial hygiene protocols. Occucare's environmental contractor program addresses the chemical exposure surveillance, biomonitoring, and post-exposure response specific to the work being performed.
Ammunition Demilitarization and Ordnance Contractors
Contractors performing ammunition demilitarization, ordnance disposal, and weapons system decommissioning operate in environments with chemical agent exposure risk, energetic materials handling, and specialized industrial hygiene surveillance requirements. Occucare's ammunition and ordnance program addresses the specific medical surveillance components for these operational environments.
Military Construction and BOS Contractors
Military construction contractors and Base Operating Support contractors performing work on DoD installations face occupational health requirements driven by the work scope, the installation environment, and contract-specific requirements imposed by the contracting officer. Occucare's MILCON and BOS program addresses the surveillance, fitness-for-duty, and deployment readiness components specific to installation-based contractor operations.
Aviation, Aerospace, and Specialty Defense Contractors
Defense contractors operating in aviation, aerospace, ship repair, and specialty defense work face position-specific medical fitness standards layered on top of standard occupational health requirements. Occucare's aviation and specialty defense program addresses the position-calibrated clearance components - vision and color vision testing for aviation roles, hyperbaric medicine evaluation for diving positions, hearing conservation calibrated to aviation noise environments, and the specialized fitness-for-duty determinations these positions require.
Why Occucare for DoD Occupational Health - Federal Compliance, Not Generic Clinical Services
Most occupational health vendors deliver commercial OSHA compliance. Occucare delivers federal compliance posture protection. The structural difference shows up in every successful DCMA audit, every on-time OCONUS deployment, every protected past performance evaluation, and every contract opportunity won where competitive bidders couldn’t demonstrate the compliance documentation Occucare provides.
Single-source DoD occupational health program
Medical surveillance, pre-deployment clearance, HAZWOPER compliance, hearing conservation, fitness-for-duty, industrial hygiene surveillance, drug consortium management, and DENIX-aligned reporting – all under one program, one physician team, one documentation standard.
Board-certified occupational medicine physicians with federal contractor program experience
Not generalists adapting commercial protocols. Physicians who reference DoDI 6055.01, apply the DoD 6055.05-M Medical Matrix, design programs against Combatant Command deployment standards, and understand the operational consequence of every clearance decision in a contract performance environment.
DCMA audit-defensible documentation maintained continuously
Records formatted for federal inspector review, surveillance calendar tracked against Medical Matrix specifications, longitudinal records maintained across the contractor employment lifecycle.
MOD-17 era and successor Combatant Command deployment capability
Pre-deployment clearance processing calibrated to the specific destination, with the immunization stocks, laboratory infrastructure, and clearance documentation chain that contracting officer’s representatives expect.
3,000+ clinic network for multi-site contract performance
Same protocols, same documentation standards, same physician oversight across CONUS bases, OCONUS deployment sites, and contractor home offices.
Integration with the full Occucare workforce health program
Pre-employment, physical exams, fit-for-duty, infectious disease, injury case management, and corporate medical direction – all under the same physician governance framework as the DoD program.
Frequently Asked Questions
Defense subcontractors are responsible for meeting medical surveillance and deployment clearance requirements that flow down from prime contractor agreements - and prime contractors are responsible for monitoring subcontractor compliance. Occucare supports both sides of the relationship: subcontractors receive program design that satisfies the flow-down requirements specifically, prime contractors receive documentation infrastructure that supports their oversight responsibility, and where Occucare serves both prime and subcontractor we provide the integrated documentation chain that supports prime-level compliance reporting.
Onsite medical support for OCONUS contract performance is delivered through Occucare's Onsite Medical Personnel program, calibrated to the operational environment, the contract scope, and the contracting officer's medical support requirements. For OCONUS contracts requiring full-time onsite medical capability, Occucare supports the staffing, the protocols, and the integration with the broader contractor occupational health program. For OCONUS contracts with intermittent medical support requirements, our 3,000-clinic network and telemedicine infrastructure provide alternative delivery models.
For federal contractor positions requiring SF-86 processing and National Security Sensitive medical determinations, Occucare provides the clinical documentation that supports agency-level fitness determinations - including the medical examination, behavioral health evaluation within ADA scope where indicated, cognitive screening where position-specific standards require, and the documentation chain formatted for adjudicating agency review. The clearance determination itself remains with the adjudicating authority; Occucare provides the underlying clinical documentation that supports the determination.
Chemical exposure incident response follows DoD-aligned post-exposure protocols - immediate medical evaluation calibrated to the substance involved, biomonitoring where applicable, post-exposure surveillance per the Medical Matrix specifications for the substance, integration with the contractor's industrial hygiene investigation, OSHA recordkeeping evaluation under 29 CFR 1904 standards, and the documentation chain that supports both current contract reporting and any subsequent exposure claim defense. For chemical agent exposures specifically, response protocols reference DoD-specific medical countermeasure guidance.
Yes. Occucare's hearing conservation program addresses the full DoDI 6055.12 framework - baseline audiometric examination, annual surveillance audiometry, standard threshold shift identification and follow-up, audiometric record documentation, integration with engineering and administrative controls evaluation, and reporting calibrated to the contractor's broader hearing conservation program. For Army-side contracts, program design references DA PAM 40-506 implementation guidance. For Navy and Air Force contracts, parallel service-specific implementation guidance is referenced.
Standard onboarding from signed agreement to live clinical access is two to three weeks, with the contract compliance assessment and protocol design running in parallel with administrative setup. For contractors with active contract performance requirements - DCMA audit response, deployment timelines, OSHA citation response, or prime contractor compliance deadlines - the schedule can be compressed by prioritizing the protocol components that gate immediate operational requirements. Pre-deployment clearance processing for time-sensitive deployments can typically begin within 48-72 hours of agreement.
Yes. Occucare's documentation framework is structured for long-term retention against the 29 CFR 1910.1020 standard requiring exposure records be maintained for 30 years plus duration of employment - the foundational requirement for defending against post-employment exposure claims that may surface years or decades after contract performance closes. The longitudinal record infrastructure supports both contractor compliance during active employment and the historical documentation that defends against alleged work-causation claims after employment ends.
Explore Occucare's Full Workforce Health Program
DoD occupational health is one vertical of Occucare’s integrated workforce health program. Every service below connects directly to the DoD compliance infrastructure – providing the operational delivery mechanism for surveillance, clearance, and case management functions that DoD contracts require.
Occupational Health
The full physician-governed occupational health program that DoD compliance protocols operate within.
Corporate Medical Direction
The physician governance framework overseeing the entire workforce health program, including DoD compliance.
Workplace Injury Case Management
Active case coordination protecting TRI and DART rates across DoD contract performance.
Physical Exams
DoD 6055.05-M Medical Matrix-aligned baseline, periodic, and exit examinations.
DOT Physicals
FMCSA-certified examinations for DoD contractor commercial fleet operators.
Pre-Employment Services
Pre-conditional-offer screening, drug testing, and infectious disease clearance for federal contractor onboarding.
Pre-Placement Testing
Post-offer functional capacity evaluation calibrated to federal contractor position demands.
Fit-for-Duty Exams
Position-calibrated medical clearances for safety-sensitive and security-sensitive federal positions.
Occupational Health Clinic Houston
Walk-in and scheduled occupational health services at our Houston facility serving Texas Industrial Corridor defense contractors.
Onsite Medical Personnel
Construction site, industrial project, and contract site medical support for DoD operations requiring onsite clinical capability.
Infectious Disease Services
OSHA bloodborne pathogen compliance, TB screening, vaccination programs, and OCONUS pre-deployment infectious disease screening.
Stop Discovering Compliance Gaps During DCMA Audits
Your DoD occupational health program should produce continuous federal compliance posture – not generic OSHA-compliant documentation that fails DCMA review, deployment processing that misses OCONUS windows, and surveillance calendars that exist on paper but not in practice. Occucare International delivers your entire DoD contractor occupational health program – DoDI 6055.05 medical surveillance, DoD 6055.05-M Medical Matrix execution, MOD-17 era and successor pre-deployment clearance, HAZWOPER 29 CFR 1910.120 compliance, DoDI 6055.12 hearing conservation, position-specific fitness-for-duty for safety-sensitive and security-sensitive positions, drug consortium management, and DENIX-aligned reporting infrastructure – under one physician-governed program, with DCMA-defensible documentation, longitudinal record maintenance, and integration with your full workforce health program built in from day one.
Military Medical Support for Global Deployment Readiness
MOD 17 Deployment Exams
Comprehensive physical assessments meeting USCENTCOM’s stringent deployment standards, ensuring service members are fully prepared for deployment and meet all required health and fitness criteria for operational readiness.
AFRICOM Medical Compliance
Region-specific health certifications for African theater operations, ensuring personnel meet the required medical standards and are fully prepared for deployment in challenging environments across the AFRICOM area of responsibility.
PACOM Readiness Screenings
Medical evaluations tailored to Indo-Pacific Command’s unique requirements, ensuring personnel meet specific health and fitness standards for optimal readiness and performance in the diverse and demanding PACOM operational environment.
SOUTHCOM Health Clearances
SOUTHCOM Health Clearances: Deployment-ready exams for Central and South American missions, ensuring personnel meet region-specific health standards and are fully prepared for operational challenges in SOUTHCOM’s diverse and dynamic environments.
EUCOM Medical Standards
European Command-compliant physicals and health documentation, ensuring personnel meet the rigorous medical requirements for deployment and operations across the European theater, maintaining operational readiness and mission success.
Mission-Critical Immunizations
Vaccinations for yellow fever, anthrax, and other deployment-essential diseases, ensuring personnel are fully protected and compliant with health requirements for safe and successful deployments in high-risk areas.
Dental Clearance & Panoramic X-rays
Mandatory oral health assessments with digital imaging for worldwide clearance, ensuring service members meet required dental standards for deployment and maintaining overall health readiness for global operations.
Yes. We offer tailored medical clearances for AFRICOM, PACOM, SOUTHCOM, and EUCOM—each aligned with that region’s unique deployment standards and health protocols.
We provide all mission-critical vaccines including yellow fever, anthrax, hepatitis series, MMR, and more, depending on the destination and deployment guidelines.
Absolutely. We perform comprehensive dental exams along with panoramic X-rays to meet the oral health requirements for DOD deployment and global operations.
Contact Us
Contact us for professional evaluations and personalized care to address workplace injuries effectively.
