OKLAHOMA CITY - Estimations from the Survey of Occupational Injuries and Illnesses (SOII) program, conducted by the Oklahoma Department of Labor's (ODOL) Statistics Division, in cooperation with the U.S. Department of Labor, Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS), showed from the sampled Oklahoma private sector workforce a total of 18,900 work-related injury and illness cases resulting in either missed workdays or on-the-job transfers or duty restrictions. This total includes 12,700 cases with days away from work and 6,200 cases with on-the-job transfers or duty restrictions. “The Department of Labor collects occupational data on our public and private sector workforce for fatalities, injuries, and illness to determine which industries need help in protecting their workforce,” said Labor Commissioner Leslie Osborn. “We are very pleased to announce that, in 2020, Oklahoma began the collection of SOII data again after a hiatus since 2012. The Department offers free no-cost safety and health consultation services for both private and public sector employers to identify hazards and improve workplace safety resulting in fewer accidents, lower injury rates, and workers who, at the end of the day, return home to their families. Having a strong and healthy workforce is vital to Oklahoma’s productivity and success.”
Key findings of the 2020 Survey of Occupational Injuries and Illnesses, Private Sector:
- Workplace injury/illness incidence rate per 100 full-time employees in Private industry was 2.7: consistent with the national rate.
- Health Care and Social Assistance indicated an incidence rate of 5.2, among the highest recorded for the 2020 survey year in Oklahoma.
- 80% of illnesses were respiratory.
- Workers in the age group 16-19 had an incidence rate of 261 per 10,000 full-time workers. The 35-44 age group had an incidence rate of 81 per 10,000 full-time workers.
- Among the leading events of injury or illness for women was exposure to harmful substances or environments with 3,590 employer reported cases. Overexertion and Bodily Reaction was among the leading event categories for men with 1,640 employer reported cases.
- Employers with 1,000 or more employees had an incidence rate of 4.7 per 100 full-time employees.
- The median number of days away from work per individual case resulting in days away from work was 10.
Incidence rates represent the number of injuries and illnesses per 100 full-time workers and were calculated as: (N/EH) x 200,000 where:
N =number of injuries and illnesses
EH =total hours worked by all employees during the calendar year
200,000 =base for 100 equivalent full-time workers (working 40 hours per week, 50 weeks per year).
SOII Program Background
The SOII is conducted annually, through a cooperative relationship between the BLS and participating states. Currently, the survey gathers data from approximately 230,000 establishments nationwide. The SOII program is one of the most complete, verifiable counts of non-fatal, work-related injuries and illnesses in the United States. The selected establishments are categorized by location, industry, and the number of employees to ensure an accurate sample size for the nation and all participating states. In Oklahoma, this data is collected as part of the ODOL Public Employees Occupational Safety and Health Statistics Division. For Survey Year 2020, ODOL collected data from 1,786 individual private sector establishments within the State. For Survey year 2021, the Oklahoma SOII sample size is increasing to 4,069 private sector establishments.
This data collection is critical to the success of ODOL’s mission to ensure that Oklahoma is a safe and healthy place to live and work. The data is useful in revealing several aspects relative to that mission, such as identifying the circumstances and patterns of work-related injuries. It is also helpful in the creation of safety training and educational materials which are useful in developing industry-standard safety practices. It also allows employers and states to compare their own injury and illness rates against national averages. Finally, the data is a vital component to facilitate and improve the academic research surrounding workplace safety and health.
Additional information and resources can be found online at The Oklahoma Department of Labor (https:// www.ok.gov/Labor/) and the United States Bureau of Labor Statistics (https://www.bls.gov/respondents/iif/).
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