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Oregon BLS Survey of Occupational Injuries and Illnesses FAQs

Participation

Participation by private sector employers in the Survey of Occupational Injuries and Illnesses is mandated by OSHA and Public Law 91-596 (Occupational Safety and Health Act of 1970)​. Establishments asked by the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) to report injuries and illnesses are required to keep injury and illness records for the year requested. These records are to be reported to the BLS the following year.​

​When selected for the Survey of Occupational Injuries and Illnesses, employers receive a notice of recordkeeping by email or U.S. Postal Service mail in December before the year records are to be kept. This notice informs employers which establishments or employees they need to keep injury and illness records on for the following year. Survey data collection notices are sent out starting in January of the following year asking employers to report the injury and illness records they kept over the previous year. As an example, employers selected for the 2023 Survey of Occupational Injuries and Illnesses were sent notices of recordkeeping in December 2022. In January 2023, these establishments received data collection notices from the BLS asking to report 2022 injury and illness information.​

Employers are randomly selected as part of a probability survey consisting of approximately 230,000 establishments nationwide. Establishments are divided into groups based on their location, industry, and number of employees so that a representative sample can be selected for each state and nationwide. Since this sampling method aims to create a survey sample that accurately represents each industry, large employers have a greater probability than small employers of being selected to participate due to the larger proportion of workers they employ for that industry.​

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​Yes. Employers with no recordable injuries or illnesses are still required to participate if selected for the survey. Even if there are no recordable injuries or illnesses, employers should report the average number of employees and to​tal hours worked by all employees for the survey year requested.​​​

​Yes. Even if your establishment is normally exempt or partially exempt from OSHA recordkeeping, the establishment is required to participate in the Survey of Occupational Injuries​ and Illnesses if selected. Since some employers are exempt from OSHA recordkeeping, the BLS sends employers a notice of recordkeeping and recordkeeping instructions before the year injury and illness records are to be recorded.​​​

​The BLS requests that survey information be submitted within 30 calendar days of receiving your survey instructions ​and survey form.​​​

Reporting your data

  • Online at the​ Bureau of Labor Statistics
  • By fax at 503-947-7312 using the downloadable Survey Fax Form.​
  • Employers with no recordable injuries or illnesses can typically submit their survey information by phone at 503-947-7030.
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​The time it takes to complete the survey varies depending on the size of the employer, the number of injuries or illnesses to be reported, and whether the person completing the survey has all of the needed information at hand. Generally, completing the survey takes just a few minutes for smaller employers or employers with no recordable injuries or illnesses. Overall, employers spend an average of about 20 to 30 minutes to complete the survey.​​​

​Call our office on the Oregon BLS Survey Hotline at 503-947-7030 if you need to update your contact information or if you need help completing the survey. As a general practice, we encourage employers to use contact information for employee positions rather than specific employees. For example, rather than provide a personal contact email such as John.Smith@OregonCompany.com, we suggest using a position-based email such as safety.manager@OregonCompany.com.​​​

Hours worked should be calculated as the number of regular and overtime hours worked by all employees during the calendar year. The total should​ exclude vacation, sick days, holidays, and any other non-work time.​

If you are uncertain of the precise number of hours worked (i.e., for salaried workers), then a reasonable estimate is an acceptable substitute. Estimate the total hours worked.​​

Your report should include full-time employees, part-time employees, temporary workers, seasonal workers, salaried workers, and hourly workers. Volunteer employees should be counted if they receive any type of remuneration whatsoever.​

Estimating the average number of employee.​​​

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​Calendar days should be used to calculate the length of an injury.​​​

​If you did not record the necessary information on your OSHA forms, please use ​any records you have available such as your annual workers’ compensation report.​​​

​OSHA recordkeeping rules state that you should classify a case according to its most serious outcome. Cases with both days away and days of job transfer should be classified as a case with days away from work. The number of days away from work AND the days of job transfer or restriction should be recorded in the corresponding columns.​​​

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For the 2019 survey year, we are collecting days of job transfer or restriction case information for establishments within the NAICS industries beginning with 111, 336, 445, 484, 713, and 722. Respondents were notifi​ed if required to provide this information in the pre-notification letter and in the letter received with survey instructions. If you are unsure whether you are required to provide this information, call the Oregon BLS Survey Hotline at 503-947-7030.

In future survey years starting in 2021, all employers may be required to submit case information for cases with days of job transfer or restriction.​

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  • Report only for the locations identified on the front page under "Report for:" Instructions on how to locate this section​.
  • If the instruction says "Report for: All Oregon Employees" or something similar, report for all of your work sites in Oregon. Do not include information from establishments in other states.
  • If you are not sure what to do, call the Oregon BLS Survey Hotline at 503-947-7030.
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No. For OSHA recordkeeping purposes (per guidance provided by OSHA), an emergency room is a facility staffed and equipped to provide emergency care to persons requiring immediate medical treatment. It can be either free standing or attached to a hospital. These facilities are almost always labeled as an "Emergency Room" or "ER."

Urgent care facilities, health units, infirmaries, and visits to a general practitioner's (primary care physician's) office are NOT considered to be emergency room visits under this definition.​

Using IDCF

​Passwords are reset yearly after SOII data collection closes. Call the Oregon BLS Hotline at 503-947-7030 to verify if your participation is currently mandated.​

Enter your User ID in the following format: 302XXXXXXXXX. This number is located in the bottom right of the front page​ of your survey form.

Yes. You can report for additional establishments using your existing account. On the Select Establishment Page:

  • Click the "Add Establishment" button.
  • Type in your establishment ID into the bottom row of the table using the following format: xx-xxxxxxxxx-x. You can locate your establishment ID on your survey form under the section "Report for:"​
  • Hit the "Add" button located to the left of the Establishment ID that was just typed in.
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Yes. To modify your survey responses:

  • Log back in to the IDCF system using your account number and password you created.
  • Click the "Select" button next to the establishment you want to update.
  • Revise any necessary answers on the appropriate page.
  • Click on the "Save & Continue" arrow on each page until you reach the Data Review page.
  • Click on the "Submit Data to BLS" button to submit your updated survey data.
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​Yes. After filling out the survey click the "Submit" button and press "Print Submission.”​​​

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Yes. To update establishment information:

  • Open the survey for the establishment whose information you want to update.
  • Click on the "Update" button located in Section 1: Establishment Information.
  • Update your establishment information.
  • Click on the "Submit" button.
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Protecting your information

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Yes. Your information and identity are kept in strict confidence in accordance with Bureau of Labor Statistics Data Integrity Guidelines, and used for statistical purposes only. BLS data integrity.​

The BLS will never share any personal identifiable information with anyone outside of the agency. Reported information is published at the industry level, and precautions are taken to ensure participating employers and their employees cannot be identified. In Oregon, the information you submit is viewable by a small team of state employees who have signed strict confidentiality agreements. Violations of this confidentiality agreement may be punished with fines or imprisonment.​​

​The information you provide is aggregated with other participating employers to produce detailed statistics on occupational injuries and workplace safety. These statistics are used by academic researchers, policymakers, advocacy groups, employers, and the general public. The focus on workplace injuries and illnesses has contributed to a substantial decline in incidence rates over the past 40 years.​

OSHA reporting

​No. OSHA's electronic reporting requirements do not change requirements for completing the Survey of Occupational Injuries and Illnesses. At this time, employers are required to complete the survey, in addition to fulfilling their recordkeeping requirements for OSHA. The BLS recognizes that some employers will be required to report similar information to both OSHA and the BLS, and is continually trying to make the submission process as convenient as possible.

If employers who are required to provide OSHA with information are selected to participate in the mandatory survey from the BLS, the employer is required to submit its data to both agencies.​​​​

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Source: FAQs created by the State of Oregon Department of Consumer and Business Services. Some of the questions and answers used are sourced directly from the Bureau of Labor Statistics with minimal changes to preserve their original meaning.