Research into the Completeness of the Survey of Occupational Injuries and

Illnesses

William WiatrowskiBureau of Labor Statistics

June 10, 2013

Today’s Roadmap

2

Bureau of Labor Statistics

Statistical arm of US Department of Labor Employment and

unemployment Consumer and

producer prices Wages, benefits Productivity Workplace safety

3

Early workplacesafety data

BLS worker injury data Since early 1900s Voluntary

employer reporting

Concerns about compliance

4

Occupational Safety and Health Act of 1970

Department of Labor to provide statistics Mandatory employer

reporting Survey of

Occupational Injuries and Illnesses (SOII) -- counts and rates by industry and state

5

Concerns – 1980s Lack of consistent

national data on workers involved and circumstances of injury

Fatal work injuries not easily captured through sample survey

6

1990s expansion Case and

demographic details For cases with

days away from work

Census of fatal occupational injuries

7

Concerns – 2000s Research studies

Comparisons with workers’ compensation

Rosenman, Boden/Ozonoff

SOII captures 32-75 percent of cases

8

Congressional Action Hearings Research funding

BLS Occupational

Safety and Health Administration (OSHA)

National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH)

GAO study9

BLS research Confirm

undercount Identify sources

of undercount Measure

undercount Fix undercount

10

Today’s Roadmap

11

What is the SOII? Establishment

survey OSHA-recordable

cases Includes

employers not otherwise required to keep records

Collected soon after end of the year

12

SOII output “Summary” data

-- counts and rates By detailed

industry By state By case type

– Days away– Restricted work– Other

13Rate per 100 full-time equivalent workers

SOII output “Case and

demographic” data About the worker

– Occupation– Age, sex, race

About the case– Type of injury– Event, source

Days away from work cases

Pilot study of restricted work cases

14

Unique aspects of the SOII

Definitions come from OSHA

Consistent data across states

Worker injuries and illnesses are infrequent events Rate 3.5 cases per

100 full-time equivalent workers

Many employers report zero cases

15

Known limitations of SOII

Limited data on workplace illnesses

No data for Federal government, small farms, self-employed

Details only for cases with days away from work

16

Possible limitationsof SOII

Undercount? Cases reported

elsewhere but not in SOII

Cases reported neither in SOII nor in other systems

17

Defining the undercount

Total public burden undercount

SOII undercount

18

Filters Event occurs

Worker perceives injury Worker acknowledges

work-related Desirable to report? Reports

Supervisor Injury is legitimate Injury is work-related Meets OSHA definitions Allows time off or

restricted duty Records injury on OSHA

log Employer in BLS sample

Injury transferred to SOII

19

Today’s Roadmap

20

BLS undercount research – 2009-2012

Matching SOII and workers’ compensation data

Multisource enumeration

Employer interviews

21

SOII-WC matching Compare SOII

case data to workers’ compensation data Days away Beyond WC

waiting period

22

SOII-WC matching Compare SOII

case data to workers’ compensation data Days away Beyond WC

waiting period

23

SOII-WC matching Compare SOII

case data to workers’ compensation data Days away Beyond WC

waiting period

24

SOII-WC matching Compare SOII

case data to workers’ compensation data Days away Beyond WC

waiting period

25

SOII-WC matching Compare SOII

case data to workers’ compensation data Days away Beyond WC

waiting period

26

SOII-WC matching Three additional

states Matching issues

Employer identification

Time of event Consistent coding

27

Results SOII appears to capture everything

on the OSHA log Evidence of undercount

40%-70% SOII capture rate Varies by method, state Possible bias

Types of cases more likely to be missed by SOII Ex: late year cases

28

Multisource enumeration

Beyond SOII and WC

Identify all cases, not just OSHA recordable

Data from emergency department visits, hospital discharges, others

29

Results Sources lack “work” information Work v medical Data sources inconsistent across

states Value in multisource for State-

based surveillance and topical research

30

Employer interviews SOII respondents –

variation by size, industry Explore reasons for

differences in OSHA logs, SOII, and State WC claims

Loosely structured questionnaire, in person visits

Qualitative details; not statistical sample

31

Results Employer

confusion, training

Differences in SOII and WC reporting

Treatment of temp help workers

32

Today’s Roadmap

33

Consensus recommendations

Work with OSHA to enhance recordkeeping Improve training

Future research Undercount over

time Variations by

state, industry Employer

attributes and practices

34

Consensus recommendations

Improve coding consistency of SOII

Expand SOII data collection Ex: union status

Supplement SOII Household data

Publicize research efforts and results

35

New round of research Expanded

interviews – 4 states Generalizable data

on employer practices

Match WC-SOII for 12 years

Pilot test auto-coding Improve consistency

36

Other SOII enhancements

Publish hospitalization data On OSHA log;

reviewing data quality

Expand data for cases of job transfer/restriction First test results

published April 2013 More to come

37

Communications Presentations

CSTE National Safety

Council APHA

Publish research results

Expand BLS website Articles FAQs More

38

Future efforts Expand auto-

coding Follow-back

studies Work with OSHA

to improve employer understanding

39

Contact Information

William Wiatrowski

Occupational Safety and Health Statisticswww.bls.gov/iif202-691-6300

wiatrowski.william@bls.gov