Does the BLS undercount workplace injuries and illnesses?
While the BLS occupational injury and illness data have been the subject of scrutiny from time to time, several studies released in recent years are the first specific research documenting missing cases in individual firms, as determined by comparisons between the BLS Survey of Occupational Injuries and Illnesses (SOII) and state workers compensation data. Follow-up research on this topic by Nicole Nestoriak and Brooks Pierce, Research Economists at the BLS, demonstrates that there are certain factors that may be associated with differences in the data captured in various sources, including the establishment type, the time of the case filing, and the injury type. The evidence suggests that data are easier to match across data sources, methodologically, for single-establishment firms than for multi-establishment firms. Injuries or illnesses with lengthy onsets or long latency periods, such as hearing loss and carpal tunnel syndrome, are less likely to be captured on OSHA logs and report
