Research into the Completeness of the Survey of Occupational Injuries and Illnesses William Wiatrowski Bureau of Labor Statistics June 10, 2013

Today’s Roadmap 2 Moving forward Research goals/results What is the SOII? Background

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 workplace safety 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 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 study 9

BLS research Confirm undercount Identify sources of undercount Measure undercount Fix undercount 10

Today’s Roadmap 11 Moving forward Research goals/results What is the SOII? Background

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 13 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 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 limitations of 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 Moving forward Research goals/ results What is the SOII? Background

BLS undercount research – 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 Moving forward Research goals/results What is the SOII? Background

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 Statistics