Nonfatal Occupational Injuries and Illnesses
The 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.
Data Example
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.
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Section 1: Establishment Information
ZYX/CBA Telecommunications1
Annual average number of employees: 670 full-time workers2
Total hours worked by all employees: 1,387,000 hours3
Section 2: Summary of Work Related Injuries and Illnesses
Number of cases with days away from work:24
Number of cases with job transfer or restriction: 15
Number of other recordable cases: 26
Total number of injuries: 4
Total number of respiratory conditions: 17
Section 3: Reporting cases
Job title: Cell Tower Tech 8
DOB: 9/13/19819, Sex: M10, Race/Ethnicity: Hispanic11
Hired: 05/10/200912
Comments: Complained of general pain13 in the lower of his back14 when his
harness15 jarringly restrained him from falling17 due to icy conditions16 on
the tower.
Incident date: 01/18/201612, 18, 21, Return date: 01/21/201618
Beginning shift: 10:00 AM20, Incident time: 11:15 AM19, 20
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Data elements captured in SOII-Annual Summary
| Category Type | No. | Characteristic | Characteristic Value | Code | Coding System |
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Industry | 1 | Industry | Wireless telecommunications carriers | 517210 | NAICS 2012 |
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Industry | 2 | Class Size | 670 full-time equivalent employees | 250-999 | |
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Industry | 3 | Hours Worked | 1,387,000 | | |
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Case Types | 4 | Days Away From Work | 2 | | OSHA |
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| 5 | Days of Job Transfer or Restriction | 1 | | OSHA |
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| 6 | Other Recordable | 2 | | OSHA |
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| 7 | Illness (Respiratory condition) | 1 | | OSHA |
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Data elements captured in SOII-Case and Demographics
| Category Type | No. | Characteristic | Characteristic Value | Code | Coding System |
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Industry | 1 | Industry | Wireless telecommunications carriers | 517210 | NAICS 2012 |
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Occupation | 8 | Occupation | Radio, cellular, and tower equipment installers and repairers | 49-2021 | SOC 2010 |
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Demographics | 9 | Age or Age Group | 35 | 35-44 | |
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| 10 | Gender | Male | | |
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| 11 | Race | Hispanic and other | | OMB |
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| 12 | Length of Service | 5 years or more | | |
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Case Characteristics | 13 | Nature of Injury | Soreness- pain- hurt--nonspecified injury | 1972 | OIICS 2.01 |
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| 14 | Part of Body Injured | Lumbar region | 322 | OIICS 2.01 |
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| 15 | Source of Injury (Primary) | Lifelines- lanyards- safety belts- harnesses | 775 | OIICS 2.01 |
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| 16 | Secondary Source of Injury | Ice- sleet- snow | 9273 | OIICS 2.01 |
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| 17 | Event of Injury | Fall or jump curtailed by personal fall arrest | 45 | OIICS 2.01 |
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Temporal Characteristics | 18 | Days-away-from-work Group | 2 Days | | |
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| 19 | Time-of-day Group | 8:01 AM to 12 Noon | | |
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| 20 | Hours-on-the-job Group | 1-2 Hours | | |
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| 21 | Day of Week | Monday | | |
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Days of Job Transfer or Work Restriction Pilot Study
Beginning 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 Breaks
Although 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 Progress
Contact Us
Assistance is available by contacting the Survey of Occupational Injuries and Illnesses at iifstaff@bls.gov or (202) 691-6170.
Last Modified Date: August 4, 2020
United States Department of Labor
