	Background

Under the OSH Act, OSHA is responsible for protecting the safety and  health of the nation’s workers. more workers it defines as being in high hazard industries. DOL Verifies the Injury and Illness Data in the ODI, but OSHA Does Not Always Collect Information from Workers, and Excludes Certain Industries

Although DOL is not required to, it verifies some of the workplace injury  and illness data it collects from employers on the ODI survey via OSHA’s  records audits. Some inspectors told us that because OSHA does not  conduct records audits until about 2 calendar years after the injuries and  illnesses are recorded, inspectors rarely learn about underrecorded  injuries or illnesses from the interviews. Because of this lag, inspectors  told us many workers are no longer employed at the worksite and those  who remain may be unable to remember the injury or illness. BLS Does Not Verify Employer-reported Data in the SOII, but Has Undertaken Actions to Improve the Quality and Completeness of the Data

BLS is not required to verify the accuracy of the data employers record on  their OSHA forms; however, BLS has acknowledged limitations to the  survey and has taken steps to improve it. Occupational Safety and Health Practitioners and Stakeholders Cited Worker and Employer Disincentives as Primary Factors That May Affect the Accuracy of Injury and Illness Data

Disincentives that influence workers’ decisions to report and employers’  decisions to record work-related injuries and illnesses are primary factors  that may affect the accuracy of the data, according to occupational safety  and health practitioners and stakeholders. Various Disincentives May Discourage Workers from Reporting and Employers from Recording Injuries and Illnesses

Occupational safety and health stakeholders we interviewed and  occupational health practitioners we surveyed told us that primary factors  affecting the accuracy of injury and illness data include disincentives that  affect workers’ decisions to report work-related injuries and illnesses and  employers’ decisions to record them. Stakeholders also told us  employers may not record injuries and illnesses because having high  injury and illness rates can affect their ability to compete for contracts for  new work. From our survey,  we found that more than one-third of health practitioners were asked by  company officials or workers to provide treatment that resulted in an  injury or illness not being recorded, but also was not sufficient to properly  treat the injury or illness. Lack of Understanding of OSHA’s Recordkeeping Requirements and Other Factors May Also Affect the Accuracy of the Injury and Illness Data

Several stakeholders and nearly all of the OSHA inspectors we interviewed  said that the lack of understanding of OSHA’s recordkeeping requirements  by the individuals charged with recording injuries and illnesses affects the  accuracy of the injury and illness data. Recommendations for Executive Action

To improve OSHA’s efforts to verify the accuracy of employer-provided  injury and illness data, the Secretary of Labor should direct the Assistant  Secretary for OSHA to take the following three actions: require inspectors to interview workers during the records audits to obtain  information on injuries or illnesses and substitute other workers when  those initially selected for interviews are not available;   minimize the amount of time between the date injuries and illnesses are  recorded by employers and the date they are audited by OSHA; and   update the list of high hazard industries used to select worksites for  records audits and target inspections, outreach, and technical assistance. Appendix I: Scope and Methodology

	Review of the Department of Labor’s Efforts to Verify the Accuracy of Employer-Reported Injury and Illness Data

To examine whether the Department of Labor (DOL) verifies that  employers are accurately recording workers’ injuries and illnesses, and, if  so, the adequacy of such efforts, we focused on the efforts of DOL’s  Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) to verify the data  it collects from employers on workers’ injuries and illnesses through its  annual OSHA Data Initiative (ODI) survey. In addition, we reviewed the  Bureau of Labor Statistics’ (BLS) efforts to verify the data it collects for  the Survey of Occupational Injuries and Illnesses (SOII). Analysis of OSHA’s Audits of Employer Injury and Illness Records

We analyzed the results of the onsite audits of employers’ injury and  illness records (records audits) OSHA conducted in 2005, 2006, and 2007  of employers’ injury and illness logs for 2003, 2004, and 2005—the most  recent period for which data were available.
Why GAO Did This Study

Under the Occupational Safety and Health Act of 1970, the Department of Labor's (DOL) Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) is responsible for protecting the safety and health of the nation's workers. The act requires DOL to collect and compile work-related injury and illness data. GAO was asked to determine (1) whether DOL verifies that employers are accurately recording workers' injuries and illnesses and, if so, the adequacy of these efforts, and (2) what factors may affect the accuracy of employers' injury and illness records. GAO analyzed OSHA's audits of employers' injury and illness records, interviewed inspectors who conducted the audits, surveyed occupational safety and health practitioners, and obtained the views of various stakeholders regarding factors that may affect the accuracy of the data.

What GAO Found

DOL verifies some of the workplace injury and illness data it collects from employers through OSHA's audits of employers' records, but these efforts may not be adequate. OSHA overlooks information from workers about injuries and illnesses because it does not routinely interview them as part of its records audits. OSHA annually audits the records of a representative sample of about 250 of the approximately 130,000 worksites in the high hazard industries it surveys to verify the accuracy of the data on injuries and illnesses recorded by employers. However, OSHA does not always require inspectors to interview workers about injuries and illnesses--the only source of data not provided by employers--which could assist them in evaluating the accuracy of the records. In addition, some OSHA inspectors reported they rarely learn about injuries and illnesses from workers since the records audits are conducted about 2 years after incidents are recorded. Moreover, many workers are no longer employed at the worksite and therefore cannot be interviewed. OSHA also does not review the accuracy of injury and illness records for worksites in eight high hazard industries because it has not updated the industry codes used to identify these industries since 2002. OSHA officials told GAO they have not updated the industry codes because it would require a regulatory change that is not currently an agency priority. The Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) also collects data on work-related injuries and illnesses recorded by employers through its annual Survey of Occupational Injuries and Illnesses (SOII), but it does not verify the accuracy of the data. Although BLS is not required to verify the accuracy of the SOII data, it has recognized several limitations in the data, such as its limited scope, and has taken or is planning several actions to improve the quality and completeness of the SOII. According to stakeholders interviewed and the occupational health practitioners GAO surveyed, many factors affect the accuracy of employers' injury and illness data, including disincentives that may discourage workers from reporting work-related injuries and illnesses to their employers and disincentives that may discourage employers from recording them. For example, workers may not report a work-related injury or illness because they fear job loss or other disciplinary action, or fear jeopardizing rewards based on having low injury and illness rates. In addition, employers may not record injuries or illnesses because they are afraid of increasing their workers' compensation costs or jeopardizing their chances of winning contract bids for new work. Disincentives for reporting and recording injuries and illnesses can result in pressure on occupational health practitioners from employers or workers to provide insufficient medical treatment that avoids the need to record the injury or illness. From its survey of U.S. health practitioners, GAO found that over a third of them had been subjected to such pressure. In addition, stakeholders and the survey results indicated that other factors may affect the accuracy of employers' injury and illness data, including a lack of understanding of OSHA's recordkeeping requirements by individuals responsible for recording injuries and illnesses.