research into the completeness of the survey of occupational injuries and illnesses william...

Research into the Completeness of the Survey of Occupational Injuries and

Illnesses

William WiatrowskiBureau of Labor Statistics

June 10, 2013

Today’s Roadmap

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Bureau of Labor Statistics

Statistical arm of US Department of Labor Employment and

unemployment Consumer and

producer prices Wages, benefits Productivity Workplace safety

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Early workplacesafety data

BLS worker injury data Since early 1900s

Voluntary employer reporting

Concerns about compliance

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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

state5

Concerns – 1980s

Lack of consistent national data on workers involved and circumstances of injury

Fatal work injuries not easily captured through sample survey

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1990s expansion

Case and demographic details For cases with

days away from work

Census of fatal occupational injuries

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Concerns – 2000s

Research studies Comparisons with

workers’ compensation

Rosenman, Boden/Ozonoff

SOII captures 32-75 percent of cases

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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

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Today’s Roadmap

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What is the SOII? Establishment

survey OSHA-recordable

cases Includes

employers not otherwise required to keep records

Collected soon after end of the year

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SOII output “Summary” data

-- counts and rates By detailed

industry By state By case type

– Days away– Restricted work– Other

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Rate 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

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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

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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

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Possible limitationsof SOII

Undercount? Cases reported

elsewhere but not in SOII

Cases reported neither in SOII nor in other systems

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Defining the undercount

Total public burden undercount

SOII undercount

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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

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BLS undercount research – 2009-2012

Matching SOII and workers’ compensation data

Multisource enumeration

Employer interviews

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SOII-WC matching

Compare SOII case data to workers’ compensation data Days away

Beyond WC waiting period

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SOII-WC matching

Compare SOII case data to workers’ compensation data Days away

Beyond WC waiting period

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SOII-WC matching

Compare SOII case data to workers’ compensation data Days away

Beyond WC waiting period

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SOII-WC matching

Compare SOII case data to workers’ compensation data Days away

Beyond WC waiting period

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SOII-WC matching

Compare SOII case data to workers’ compensation data Days away

Beyond WC waiting period

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SOII-WC matching

Three additional states

Matching issues Employer

identification Time of event Consistent coding

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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

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Multisource enumeration

Beyond SOII and WC

Identify all cases, not just OSHA recordable

Data from emergency department visits, hospital discharges, others

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Results

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

states Value in multisource for State-

based surveillance and topical research

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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

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Results

Employer confusion, training

Differences in SOII and WC reporting

Treatment of temp help workers

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Today’s Roadmap

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Consensus recommendations

Work with OSHA to enhance recordkeeping Improve training

Future research Undercount over

time Variations by

state, industry Employer

attributes and practices

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Consensus recommendations

Improve coding consistency of SOII

Expand SOII data collection Ex: union status

Supplement SOII Household data

Publicize research efforts and results

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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

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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

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Communications

Presentations CSTE National Safety

Council APHA

Publish research results

Expand BLS website Articles FAQs More

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Future efforts

Expand auto-coding

Follow-back studies

Work with OSHA to improve employer understanding

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Contact Information

William Wiatrowski

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

wiatrowski.william@bls.gov