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Updated BLS Occupational Injury and Illness Classification System
Joyce M. Northwood, Eric F. Sygnatur, and Janice A. Windau
Joyce M. Northwood is a senior financial economist in the Division of Depositor and Consumer Protection, Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation. Eric F. Sygnatur is an economist, and Janice A. Windau is an epidemiologist, in the Office of Safety, Health, and Working Conditions, Bureau of Labor Statistics. Email: jnorthwood@fdic.gov, sygnatur.eric@bls.gov, or windau.janice@bls.gov.
Occupational injuries and illnesses require a context to be best understood. Falls, for example, account for more than 10 percent of fatal work injuries and more than 20 percent of nonfatal work injuries requiring time away from work. What more is known about workplace falls? Can we identify where the worker fell from, the distance fallen, or any precipitating environmental factors? What was the nature of the injury that resulted from the fall: a fracture, a sprain, or some other condition? And to what body part did the injury occur? The stories behind falls and other workplace injuries are of vital importance for their analysis and prevention. A consistent and comprehensive coding system can categorize much that is known about these injuries, thus providing the research tools necessary for developing prevention strategies. The Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS, the Bureau) uses the Occupational Injury and Illness Classification System (OIICS)1 to furnish this information in the agency's Occupational Safety and Health Statistics program, in which funding is split between the federal government and partnering states.
1 For more information, see Injuries, Illnesses, and Fatalities: Occupational Injury and Illness Classification Manual (U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, Mar. 6, 2012), http://www.bls.gov/iif/oshoiics.htm.
Injuries, Illnesses, & Fatalities
Comparing Workers’ Compensation claims with establishments’ responses to the SOII.—May 2009.
Examining evidence on whether BLS undercounts workplace injuries and illnesses—Aug. 2008.
Occupational safety and health statistics: new data for a new century.—Oct. 2005.
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