An update on SOII undercount research activities

Concerns from academic researchers and other data users and stakeholders about the completeness of the injury and illness counts from the Survey of Occupational Injuries and Illnesses (SOII) prompted Congress to allocate funds to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) to establish an ongoing research program. Initial research conducted by BLS pointed to an undercount of injuries and illnesses, thereby confirming earlier research. The research did not, however, result in definitive conclusions regarding the magnitude of the undercount. Subsequent research by BLS began to look at reasons why some injuries and illnesses are not recorded by employers nor reported to BLS on the SOII. To do this, BLS partnered with four states that interviewed a large number of SOII respondents about their injury-and-illness recordkeeping experience. This article presents initial results of this fourstate study and two Washington-State-specific projects and concludes with a discussion of ongoing BLSsponsored research.