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Injuries, Illnesses, and Fatalities
Bureau of Labor Statistics > Injuries, Illnesses, and Fatalities > Home

Injuries, Illnesses, and Fatalities Data Retrieval Guide

Overview

The Injuries, Illnesses, and Fatalities (IIF) program at the Bureau of Labor Statistics reports a wide range of information about workplace injuries and illnesses. IIF data can be separated into fatal and nonfatal data. Nonfatal data is gathered through the Survey of Occupational Injuries and Illnesses (SOII), while the Census of Fatal Occupational Injuries (CFOI) provides a comprehensive count of all fatal workplace injuries.

SOII outputs are divided into two data series: the annual summary series of nonfatal occupational injuries and illnesses by industry and case type, and the case and demographic series of nonfatal occupational injuries and illnesses by case circumstances and worker characteristics for cases involving days away from work, job transfer or restriction.

Annual summary tables and charts provide the total number and incidence rates of injuries and illnesses by industry and by case types: all injuries and illnesses (Total Recordable Cases or TRC); cases involving Days away from work, job transfer or restriction (DART); cases involving days away from work (DAFW); cases of job transfer or restriction only (DJTR), and recordable cases with no loss of time (ORC). Industry data is classified using the North American Industry Classification System (NAICS).

Case and demographic tables and charts highlight case circumstances and worker characteristics for injuries and illnesses that resulted in one or more days away from work. Case circumstance information is categorized according the BLS Occupational Injury and Illness Classification System (OIICS) by event or exposure, nature of injury or illness, part of body, and source of injury or illness. Occupation is classified according to the Standard Occupational Classification (SOC).

The CFOI provides information on those who died due to a traumatic work-related injury. CFOI data include all fatalities that occurred in the reference year that were the result of a workplace injury, regardless of when the injury occurred. CFOI outputs include detailed information on fatal workplace injuries, including industry data, case circumstances, and worker characteristics.

Series Breaks

Although SOII began collecting data in 1972 and CFOI in 1992, users are advised against making comparisons across the entire time period due to series breaks in the classification systems used to code SOII data. The SOII experienced series breaks in 2002, 2003, 2011, and 2014. The 2014 series break only affected Annual Summary Data. Case and demographic data did not experience a series break in 2014. The CFOI experienced series breaks in 2002, 2003, and 2011. For more information on series breaks, please consult the SOII Handbook of Methods or CFOI Handbook of Methods.

Online Tables

The easiest way to access IIF Data is through online tables published with each annual release of the SOII and CFOI. Online tables produce the following data:

Databases

If you want to perform more specific data pulls, the next place to look is our IIF Databases page. Below are instructions for how to use each of our available tools and other available resources.

Profiles Tool

Data for non-fatal occupational injuries and illnesses and fatal occupational injuries can be obtained using our Online Profiles tool. The Profiles tool offers an overview of our most popular data. Here are the basic steps to use the Online Profiles tool.

  1. Go to our Online Profiles tool: https://data.bls.gov/gqt/InitialPage.
  2. Select the type of data you are interested in. The Profiles tool allows you to choose between four different types of data:
    • Case and Demographic Numbers
    • Case and Demographic Incidence Rates
    • Annual Summary Numbers and Rates
    • Fatal Injuries Numbers
  3. Select your starting year.
  4. Select either "All U.S." or a State. Only one State is allowed at a time. Choose the beginning year of the data range.
  5. Select the characteristic type and order.
    • Characteristic type refers to industry, occupation, case characteristic, or demographic characteristic. Order refers to the sort order of the detailed characteristic chosen. "Name or description" is an alphabetic sort. The other option is a numeric sort order.
  6. Select the sub-characteristic. Then select the Ownership.
  7. Select output type. Options include Excel or HTML.

Data for participating States and territories are available from 1992 to the present. State participation in the Survey of Occupational Injuries and Illnesses may vary by year, so the availability of nonfatal data may vary for some states.

The Profiles tool is organized around series breaks for NAICS and OIICS codes. If the data you wish to retrieve crosses any of these series breaks you will have to work around them by selecting the appropriate time range. E.g., to retrieve Case and Demographic data from 1992 you must generate three separate tables with your area of interest; one with time range 1992-2001; one for 2002-2010; and then the final one from 2011-present.

Ownership type is based on the state selected. Since 2008, all participating states have collected data for the public sector. Previously, however, public sector estimates were available only for select states. If the state chosen covers these ownerships, they will be listed under ownership type; otherwise, only "detailed private industry" will be available.


One screen/ Multi-screen Search

The IIF program has one-screen and multi-screen data search tools on the databases page. The multi-screen searches are a step-through interface that allows the user to select multiple criteria across successive screens to create a unique series ID for outputting data. The multi-screen tool contains similar detailed data found through the Profiles tool while also containing information that cannot be found through the tool, including median days away from work, relative standard errors for SOII estimates, number and rate of nonfatal injuries only, number and rate of nonfatal illnesses only, cross-tabulations of two detailed categories, and data for multiple states.

Here are the multi-screen search tools for accessing data since 2003:

The single-screen data search interface is available for SOII case and demographics data 2011-forward and for CFOI data 2011-forward. The interface allows the user to enter search criteria for multiple characteristics on a single screen to create a unique series ID for outputting data. Both the multi-screen and single screen searches obtain data from the same source and provide the same types of output. For SOII case and demographics data for 2011-forward, the one-screen search tool contains output variables for hours worked, length of service, race, time of day, and day of the week- options that are not available using the multi-screen search.


Flat Files

The IIF program has several flat files that contain a large amount of fatal and nonfatal data from the Census of Fatal Occupational Injuries (CFOI) and Survey of Occupational Injuries and Illnesses (SOII). Each series corresponds with certain years of data, which represent breaks in series (see section on Series Breaks) due to changes in taxonomies used to classify data. Here are the series values for the data since 2003:

The ".txt" files in each section explains the data available for that series and how each of the mapping files within the directory can be utilized.

Please note that our coding systems that are the foundation of the data have changed over the years and comparing such data elements are problematic and not advised. (See section on Series Breaks above for further explanation.)

Each flat file contains data points associated with a unique Series ID. For more information on Series ID formats and to download data prior to 2003 see https://www.bls.gov/help/hlpforma.htm#OSH. Each ".txt" file has an explanation of how the survey's series ID is constructed as well.


Calculating Total Recordable Incidence Rate (TRIR)

If you would like to calculate your establishment's nonfatal injury and illness incidence rate(s), we have an incidence rate calculator on our website that might be helpful: https://data.bls.gov/iirc/. This tool can be used by establishments of all sizes in any industry. You can locate the instructions to use this tool here: https://www.bls.gov/help/def/iirc.htm.


Special Query

While the IIF program already provides many publishable estimates online, it is not feasible to provide all publishable data on our public website due to the very high volume of potentially publishable estimates.

Additional data may be available upon request but require a special query, including:

  • Cross tabulations for a detailed characteristic by another detailed characteristic, such as 6 digit industry by 4 digit event or exposure
  • Multi-way cross tabulations, such as industry by occupation by nature of injury

These data can be requested through a special query by contacting IIFSTAFF@bls.gov to confirm that the desired data are not otherwise available. Previously published special queries are posted on our website for application by other interested users.

Currently, special queries are available only for nonfatal data. A moratorium is in effect for CFOI special queries as we re-examine our disclosure criteria.


BLS API

The BLS Public Data Application Programming Interface (API) gives the public access to economic data from all BLS programs. To learn about accessing our data via the API please see this link: https://www.bls.gov/developers/.


Researcher Access

The BLS allows eligible researchers the opportunity to gain access to restricted data files for select statistical research projects. Access to microdata for the Survey of Occupational Injuries and Illnesses (SOII) and Census of Fatal Occupational Injuries (CFOI) programs are available in one of our Federal Statistical Research Data Centers (FSRDCs) throughout the country and onsite at BLS in Washington, D.C. More information can be found here. Access to a research file requires a well-defined research question that must go through an approval process and takes approximately 6 months.

The CFOI micro fatality research file is also available to access through the BLS Virtual Data Enclave (VDE). Access to the CFOI research file through the VDE requires the same application and approval process as onsite access.

For more information, the IIF program can be reached at (202) 691-6170 or by e-mailing IIF Staff.