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Nonfatal Occupational Injuries and IllnessesThe Survey of Occupational Injuries and Illnesses (SOII) is a Federal/State cooperative program that publishes estimates on nonfatal occupational injuries and illnesses. Each year, approximately 200,000 employers report for establishments in private industry and the public sector (state and local government). In-scope cases include work-related injuries or illnesses to workers who require medical care beyond first aid. See the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) for the entire recordkeeping guidelines. The SOII excludes all work–related fatalities as well as nonfatal work injuries and illnesses to the self–employed; to workers on farms with 10 or fewer employees; to private household workers; to volunteers; and to federal government workers. For more information on the scope and sampling methodology see the SOII Handbook of Methods. SOII data are released to the public through the SOII News Release, SOII charts and tables and through the IIF public database, generally in early November. SOII Outputs
The Injuries, Illness and Fatalities program publishes two broad categories of outputs based on information provided by employers. Since 1972 BLS has published summary estimates of the number and incidence rate of injuries and illnesses by industry. In 1992 BLS began publishing information on the demographics of the injured or ill worker and detailed case circumstances. These data are only available for cases involving days away from work. For more on workplace injuries and illnesses see our definitions page. SOII–Data Example (Expand to view)Typically, the SOII produces over ten million publishable data points for a given reference year. A hypothetical, simplified case is illustrated below to demonstrate the breadth and depth of SOII data by its industry level and case and demographic aggregations. The following example shows some of the typical information that is provided by survey respondents on the SOII survey form.
Data elements captured in SOII-Annual Summary
Data elements captured in SOII-Case and Demographics
Days of Job Transfer or Work Restriction Pilot StudyBeginning with 2011 data, SOII–Case & Demographics began a pilot study for a new data series for details about Days of Job Transfer or Work Restriction (DJTR) cases. DJTR cases are OSHA–recordable cases wherein the injured or ill worker returns to work without taking time off and is transferred to another job or assignment or the routine job duties are modified. The pilot study includes data for rotating sets of six selected industries. Series BreaksAlthough SOII began collecting data in 1972, users are advised against making comparisons across the entire time period due to series breaks in the classification systems used to code SOII data. 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) and industry by the North American Industry Classification System (NAICS). Please review our Occupational Safety and Health Changes to OIICS, NAICS and SOC page to assess the changes that have occurred over your time period of interest. Access SOII Data
Research in ProgressContact UsAssistance is available by contacting the Survey of Occupational Injuries and Illnesses at iifstaff@bls.gov or (202) 691-6170.
Last Modified Date: May 17, 2019 |