Acquiring the offsite CFOI micro fatality research file

The Census of Fatal Occupational Injuries (CFOI) maintains a database of fatal work injuries in the United States back to 1992 and provides a number of online mechanisms for accessing these data. Our online Profiles system performs online cross-tabulations and can be found at Occupational Injuries and Illnesses and Fatal Injuries Profiles. The BLS also maintains a list of Most Requested Statistics. Queries may be run using either of the following tools: Create Customized Tables (One Screen), and Create Customized Tables (Multiple Screens—requires Java). Additional compiled tables can be found at Current and Revised Data.

In addition to these online tools, BLS economists can perform special tabulations of data not available elsewhere. These special tabulations can take anywhere from a day to 10 days to produce depending on the complexity of the request. Contact us for more information or to make a request.

It is our experience that most data requests can be completed using one of the methods noted above. However, if these mechanisms do not provide the data you need, the BLS may approve access to an offsite micro data research file. For a description of CFOI data and a list of data elements collected, see the BLS Handbook of Methods. The research file contains data from various sources. Much of these data were collected under a pledge of confidentiality and therefore are protected under the Confidential Information Protection and Statistical Efficiency Act of 2002. The CFOI research file is available only to those researchers who agree to protect the confidentiality of the data and have the safeguards in place to do so. In addition, proposed projects must have a well-defined research question of scientific merit that is of a purely statistical nature. Ultimately, final approval rests with the Commissioner of BLS.

Upon approval, the BLS will prepare a Letter of Agreement which must be signed by the Commissioner for Labor Statistics and an official of the recipient’s organization, such as a President, Vice President, Dean, Provost, Center Director, or similar official, prior to release of the research file. By signing the Letter of Agreement, the researcher and the researcher’s organization agree to adhere to the BLS confidentiality policy as applicable to the CFOI research file. In addition, all individuals who will have access to the CFOI data must sign an Agent Agreement acknowledging their understanding of the BLS confidentiality policy prior to accessing the CFOI data.

Applications are processed twice a year—during the months of April and October. The process takes approximately six to eight weeks. The application can be downloaded online at ftp.bls.gov/pub/special.requests/ocwc/osh/cfoi_app.zip. (For information on viewing ZIP files, see http://www.bls.gov/bls/blszip.htm.)

Before submitting an application, please e-mail us or call us at 202-691-6170 to discuss your project.

Last Modified Date: May 16, 2007