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Nearly 50 years of occupational safety and health data
In 2020, the Department of Labor (DOL) marks 50 years since President Richard Nixon signed into law the Occupational Safety and Health (OSH) Act of 1970. This law was intended to ensure “so far as possible every working man and woman in the nation safe and healthful working conditions and to preserve our human resources.”1 To accomplish this, the OSH Act authorized the Secretary of Labor to “develop and maintain an effective program of collection, compilation, and analysis of occupational safety and health statistics.”2 The Secretary delegated this responsibility to the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS), which first published estimates from the Survey of Occupational Injuries and Illnesses (SOII) for the 1972 survey year.
This Beyond the Numbers article recognizes the 50th anniversary of the OSH Act of 1970 and discusses the SOII and the Census of Fatal Occupational Injuries (CFOI) and changes in occupational safety and health data. These sister programs publish information on the counts, incidence rates, and characteristics of nonfatal work-related injuries and illnesses and fatal injuries, respectively.4 Established following passage of the 1970 OSH Act, the SOII has been the source of nonfatal occupational injuries and illnesses among U.S. workplaces since its inception. BLS established the CFOI in 1992 to provide more detailed data and characteristics of fatal workplace injuries and is widely regarded as the most comprehensive source available on workplace fatalities.
For nearly five decades, BLS has published national- and state-level estimates of nonfatal workplace injuries and illnesses from the SOII annually.5 These BLS data are integral to the DOL mission to improve working conditions by informing the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) and other policymakers about the incidence of nonfatal injuries and illnesses, occupational fatalities, and other related statistical data.6 OSHA and policymakers use these data to ensure safe and healthy working conditions of the American workforce.
Improving the national statistics
The incidence rate of nonfatal injuries and illnesses among private industry workplaces occurred at a rate of 10.9 cases per 100 full-time equivalent workers in 1972 and 2.8 cases in 2018. (See chart 1.)
Chart 2. Producer Price Index (PPI) nonresidential building construction (NRBC) contractor markup, and employment levels for the nonresidential building construction sector, December 2004–December 2017
Month and year
Contractor markup
Employment
Dec 2004
100.0
100.0
Jan 2005
100.4
99.6
Feb 2005
100.7
100.2
Mar 2005
101.7
99.7
Apr 2005
102.0
100.2
May 2005
102.6
99.9
Jun 2005
103.0
100.1
Jul 2005
103.4
100.3
Aug 2005
103.9
101.5
Sep 2005
105.0
101.5
Oct 2005
105.7
102.7
Nov 2005
105.7
104.0
Dec 2005
105.9
104.4
Jan 2006
106.1
104.9
Feb 2006
107.3
105.4
Mar 2006
107.3
106.3
Apr 2006
107.5
107.7
May 2006
107.9
107.5
Jun 2006
108.3
107.3
Jul 2006
109.4
108.7
Aug 2006
109.4
107.5
Sep 2006
109.3
107.7
Oct 2006
109.0
107.5
Nov 2006
109.2
107.5
Dec 2006
109.3
107.8
Jan 2007
109.7
109.7
Feb 2007
109.6
109.4
Mar 2007
109.7
110.7
Apr 2007
110.4
110.2
May 2007
110.7
110.4
Jun 2007
110.5
111.7
Jul 2007
110.5
111.8
Aug 2007
110.4
110.7
Sep 2007
110.3
112.1
Oct 2007
110.1
112.0
Nov 2007
109.8
112.3
Dec 2007
109.8
112.2
Jan 2008
109.6
112.9
Feb 2008
109.5
113.3
Mar 2008
109.2
114.0
Apr 2008
109.3
112.8
May 2008
109.2
111.9
Jun 2008
109.5
111.4
Jul 2008
108.4
111.7
Aug 2008
108.2
111.6
Sep 2008
107.8
110.0
Oct 2008
107.3
109.3
Nov 2008
106.9
107.7
Dec 2008
106.0
107.4
Jan 2009
105.6
105.5
Feb 2009
104.9
103.6
Mar 2009
104.1
101.4
Apr 2009
103.5
99.2
May 2009
103.0
98.8
Jun 2009
101.0
97.1
Jul 2009
99.3
95.5
Aug 2009
97.4
94.5
Sep 2009
94.6
93.2
Oct 2009
92.8
92.1
Nov 2009
91.5
91.4
Dec 2009
90.7
89.7
Jan 2010
89.7
88.4
Feb 2010
89.1
87.1
Mar 2010
87.9
88.3
Apr 2010
88.5
89.5
May 2010
87.9
89.2
Jun 2010
87.0
88.8
Jul 2010
86.9
88.9
Aug 2010
86.6
88.4
Sep 2010
86.4
88.3
Oct 2010
86.1
88.0
Nov 2010
85.7
88.2
Dec 2010
86.1
87.9
Jan 2011
85.8
87.2
Feb 2011
86.1
86.4
Mar 2011
86.6
87.4
Apr 2011
86.0
87.7
May 2011
86.2
87.6
Jun 2011
86.0
88.0
Jul 2011
85.8
88.5
Aug 2011
85.6
89.1
Sep 2011
85.2
90.2
Oct 2011
85.2
89.6
Nov 2011
87.0
88.9
Dec 2011
87.1
88.3
Jan 2012
87.5
88.8
Feb 2012
87.4
88.7
Mar 2012
87.7
88.6
Apr 2012
87.7
88.6
May 2012
87.9
88.7
Jun 2012
88.3
88.4
Jul 2012
88.3
88.2
Aug 2012
88.4
88.4
Sep 2012
88.1
88.6
Oct 2012
88.0
89.1
Nov 2012
87.4
89.2
Dec 2012
87.5
90.0
Jan 2013
87.7
89.9
Feb 2013
87.6
90.4
Mar 2013
87.2
90.6
Apr 2013
87.5
90.1
May 2013
88.3
90.4
Jun 2013
88.7
90.4
Jul 2013
88.9
90.8
Aug 2013
89.4
90.3
Sep 2013
89.9
91.5
Oct 2013
89.4
91.7
Nov 2013
89.9
92.3
Dec 2013
90.2
92.2
Jan 2014
90.7
92.7
Feb 2014
90.9
92.5
Mar 2014
90.7
92.6
Apr 2014
90.9
93.2
May 2014
91.8
93.6
Jun 2014
92.3
93.7
Jul 2014
93.5
94.3
Aug 2014
94.2
94.9
Sep 2014
93.6
95.3
Oct 2014
93.6
95.6
Nov 2014
93.3
95.7
Dec 2014
93.8
96.4
Jan 2015
94.1
96.8
Feb 2015
94.7
97.6
Mar 2015
94.8
97.5
Apr 2015
96.2
96.8
May 2015
97.2
97.6
Jun 2015
97.9
98.3
Jul 2015
97.5
98.3
Aug 2015
97.1
98.5
Sep 2015
97.1
98.7
Oct 2015
98.0
99.1
Nov 2015
98.2
100.1
Dec 2015
97.8
100.5
Jan 2016
97.5
101.0
Feb 2016
96.7
101.8
Mar 2016
97.2
102.6
Apr 2016
97.6
102.5
May 2016
97.4
102.2
Jun 2016
98.2
102.4
Jul 2016
98.8
103.3
Aug 2016
99.1
102.6
Sep 2016
99.5
102.0
Oct 2016
99.1
103.2
Nov 2016
99.7
103.3
Dec 2016
99.8
103.8
Jan 2017
99.5
104.4
Feb 2017
99.1
104.7
Mar 2017
99.5
105.2
Apr 2017
98.9
105.7
May 2017
100.0
106.0
Jun 2017
100.9
106.0
Jul 2017
103.4
105.7
Aug 2017
104.1
106.5
Sep 2017
103.9
106.8
Oct 2017
103.7
106.6
Nov 2017
103.4
107.3
Dec 2017
103.2
107.2
Source: U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics.
Many changes have taken place in the realm of occupational injury and illness measurement since the enactment of the OSH Act of 1970. About 15 years following passage of the act, there was broad concern among Congress and the safety and health community that statistics on workplace injuries and illnesses were inadequate. As a result, BLS requested that the National Research Council convene a panel of experts to investigate these concerns and to recommend solutions for improving national statistics on workplace injuries and illnesses.7 This National Research Council panel published recommendations in 1987 that led BLS to restructure the SOII to capture detailed case circumstances and worker characteristics for injuries and illnesses that resulted in days away from work, first published for 1992.
This Beyond the Numbers article was prepared by Jeff Brown, supervisory economist in the Office of Compensation and Working Conditions, U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. Email: Brown.Jeff@bls.gov. Telephone: 202-691-6170.
Information in this article will be made available upon request to individuals with sensory impairments. Voice phone: (202) 691-5200. Federal Relay Service: 1-800-877-8339. This article is in the public domain and may be reproduced without permission.
United States Department of Labor
