[Federal Register Volume 73, Number 39 (Wednesday, February 27, 2008)]
[Notices]
[Pages 10471-10472]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: E8-3662]


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DEPARTMENT OF LABOR

Bureau of Labor Statistics


Comment Request

ACTION: Notice of solicitation of comments.

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SUMMARY: The Department of Labor through the Bureau of Labor Statistics 
(BLS) is responsible for the development and publication of 
occupational injury, illness, and fatality data. These data are 
compiled in the Survey of Occupational Injuries and Illnesses and the 
Census of Fatal Occupational Injuries. These two programs use the 
Occupational Injury and Illness Classification System to classify 
certain cases received. BLS is currently soliciting comments to revise 
this system.

DATES: Written comments must be submitted to the office listed in the 
Addresses section of this notice on or before April 1, 2008.

ADDRESSES: Send comments to Janice Windau, Office of Safety, Health, 
and Working Conditions, Bureau of Labor Statistics, Room 3180, 2 
Massachusetts Avenue, NE., Washington, DC 20212 or by e-mail to: [email protected].

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Janice Windau, Office of Safety, 
Health, and Working Conditions, Bureau of Labor Statistics, telephone 
number 202-691-6160 or by e-mail at [email protected].

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: 

I. Background

    The Department of Labor through the Bureau of Labor Statistics 
(BLS) is responsible for the development and publication of 
occupational injury, illness, and fatality data. The Bureau's nonfatal 
injury and illness statistics are derived from the Survey of 
Occupational Injuries and Illnesses (SOII). Data for fatal work 
injuries are compiled in the Census of Fatal Occupational Injuries 
(CFOI).
    Beginning with data for 1992, cases with days away from work 
reported in the SOII and fatal injuries reported in

[[Page 10472]]

CFOI were classified according to five code structures that describe 
the injury or illness and how it occurred: Nature of injury or illness, 
part of body affected, source of injury or illness, event or exposure, 
secondary source of injury or illness. These structures comprise the 
Occupational Injury and Illness Classification System.
    The Occupational Injury and Illness Classification System (OIICS) 
was developed by the Bureau of Labor Statistics with input from data 
users and States participating in the BLS Occupational Safety and 
Health (OSH) Federal/State cooperative programs. It was ultimately 
based on the American National Standards Institute (ANSI) Z16.2-1962, 
Method of Recording Basic Facts Relating to the Nature and Occurrence 
of Work Injuries, revised 1969. In addition, certain portions are based 
on the International Classification of Disease, 9th Revision, Clinical 
Modification (ICD-9 CM), which is widely used in the medical community.
    The Occupational Injury and Illness Classification System contains 
the following code structures used to describe the injury and illness 
and how it occurred:
     Nature of Injury or Illness, which describes the physical 
characteristics of the injury or illness.
     Part of Body Affected, which identifies the part of the 
body directly affected by the nature.
     Source of Injury or Illness, which identifies the object 
or substance that directly inflicted the injury or illness.
     Event or Exposure, which describes the manner in which the 
injury or illness was inflicted by the source.
     Secondary Source, which identifies other objects or 
substances, if any, that contributed to the event or exposure. The same 
code list is used for both source and secondary source.
    The classification structures are hierarchical with four levels of 
detail to facilitate the aggregation of information and to accommodate 
both variations in detail available on reporting forms and the needs of 
data users. For example, one user may wish to look at data for injuries 
involving all trucks (Source code 825); whereas, another user may be 
interested only in cases involving tractor trailer trucks (Source code 
8254).
    Each classification structure is comprised of the following:
     Rules of selection, which define the characteristic and 
assist in assigning a code when more than one code category might apply 
to the case.
     Code descriptions, which provide more detail about the 
individual code categories and often give examples of types of cases 
that are included or excluded from the category.
     Complete code list, which includes the codes and 
associated titles by themselves without the descriptions.
     Alphabetical indices.
    The original OIICS was released in December 1992 and was approved 
for use as the American National Standard for Information Management 
for Occupational Safety and Health in 1995 (ANSI Z16.2-1995). In 
addition to the BLS occupational safety and health statistics program, 
the OIICS is used by several State workers' compensation agencies, the 
National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health, and other 
organizations. The Bureau of Labor Statistics' current coding is 
limited to cases that result in death or days away from work; other 
users of the OIICS may code cases which involve medical treatment only.
    In September 2007, the OIICS was updated to incorporate various 
interpretations and corrections. That phase of the revision process was 
limited in order to minimize computer systems changes and breaks in the 
BLS data series. Although a few code titles were changed to reflect the 
category's contents, no new codes were added. The current version of 
the OIICS along with a list of changes recently incorporated is 
available on the BLS Web site at http://www.bls.gov/iif/oshoiics.htm.

II. Current Action

    A more extensive revision is being planned. This revision is 
intended to update the classification system to:
     Capture workplace hazards resulting from the many 
technological changes that have taken place in the work environment 
since the OIICS was initially released.
     Include new or emerging conditions that could potentially 
result from an incident or exposure in the workplace.
     Provide for data aggregations not available with the 
current OIICS.
     Resolve remaining coding issues.
    In addition, BLS will review the International Statistical 
Classification of Diseases and Related Health Problems--Tenth Revision 
(ICD-10) to identify work-related conditions and hazards not captured 
in the current OIICS.

III. Desired Focus of Comments

    Comments and recommendations are requested from the public on the 
following aspects of the OIICS:
     The basic coding system.
     The format of the manual.
     The definitions of the five characteristics (Nature of 
Injury or Illness, Part of Body Affected, Source of Injury or Illness, 
Secondary Source, Event or Exposure).
     Potential new characteristics.
     The rules of selection.
     The code categories, including any recommendations for 
additional categories and for merging or deleting existing categories.
     The descriptions of the code categories, including the 
lists of inclusions and exclusions.
     Alphabetical indices.

    Signed at Washington, DC, this 21st day of February 2008.
Kimberley Hill,
Acting Chief, Division of Management Systems, Bureau of Labor 
Statistics.
 [FR Doc. E8-3662 Filed 2-26-08; 8:45 am]
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