Learning Objectives:
* Estimate how many workers-and in which occupations-are presently excluded from the Bureau of Labor Statistics Annual Survey of Occupational Illnesses and Injuries.
* Consider possible reasons for under-reporting of injuries by private firms and their employees.
* Provide the best estimate of the degree of under-reporting, and note the possible consequences for workers' health.
Debate surrounds the size of the underestimate of nonfatal occupational injuries produced by the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS). We developed models that separated categories of injuries: BLS Annual Survey, federal government, agriculture, state and local government, self-employed outside agriculture, and all other. The models generated varying estimates depending on the assumptions for each category pertaining to job risks and amount of underreporting. We offered justification for the assumptions based on published studies as well as our own analyses of BLS data. The models suggested the Annual Survey missed from 0% to 70% of the number of injuries (from private firms, excluding the self-employed) it was designed to capture. However, when we included firms and governments the Annual Survey was not designed to capture, and considered reasonable assumptions regarding underreporting, we estimated the BLS missed between 33% and 69% of all injuries. We concluded that there was substantial undercapture in the BLS Annual Survey, some due to the excluded categories of government workers and the self-employed, as well as some due to underreporting.
Occupational injuries are an underappreciated contributor to overall disability and death. 1 In the United States, occupational injuries have been estimated to cost roughly $140 billion per year in the 1990s. 2,3 Roughly 97% of these costs are the result of nonfatal injuries. This compares with the annual costs of cancer ($170 billion) as well as chronic obstructive pulmonary disease ($24 billion) and acquired immune deficiency ($30 billion) for the same decade. 1,4,5 The Bureau of Labor Statistics' (BLS) Annual Survey of Occupational Injuries and Illnesses (Annual Survey) has been used to develop the cost estimates for injuries. 3 The raw Annual Survey data were supplied by roughly 174,000 private firms in 1999 6 and by roughly 250,000 firms in previous years. 7 Most private firms with one or more employees are required to maintain a job injury and illness log (OSHA Log 200). Owners and managers of firms, not unions or groups of employees, are responsible for sending the raw data to the BLS.
It is well known that official data sources underestimate occupational injury. 8,9 The Annual Survey is no exception, and the BLS acknowledges many limitations. Yet the BLS Bulletins and news releases minimize these limitations and the Statistical Abstract of the U.S.10 ignores them altogether. As a result, journalists seeking an estimate of the national number of injuries could never know that the Annual Survey summarily excludes over 1 in 5 workers, including injuries incurred by most police officers and firefighters. The BLS acknowledges the following groups are excluded from the survey: self-employed individuals; farms with fewer than 11 employees; employers regulated by other federal safety and health laws; federal, state and local government agencies; and private household workers. 6,11 These are significant exclusions. In 1999, roughly 14.7% of employed people were government workers and 7.3% were self-employed. 12 One government estimate suggests that 0.4% of employed persons work on farms with fewer than 10 (not 11) workers. 13 However, government estimates of employment of farm workers have been criticized as being especially small. 14
However, there are further limitations that the BLS does not acknowledge. Firms could under- or overreport injuries. We first consider the causes of the under- and overreporting. Second, we consider empiric evidence.