What’s the OSHA Data Initiative (ODI)?

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The OSHA Data Initiative (ODI) is a data collection effort to learn more about private-sector occupational injury & illness rates, for evaluation of trends, and statistics. OSHA uses this information to make decisions about enforcement. Each year, the ODI collects injury and illness data from approximately 80,000 employers within specific industry and employment size specifications. States generate the data for OSHA through a federally funded contract. ODI data is used by OSHA to calculate the injury and illness rates of your organization. The ODI is different from the BLS Annual Survey of Occupational Injuries and Illnesses, which many safety pros are quick to recognize. The BLS survey is typically mailed in late winter, while the OSHA survey is mailed in June.

While both the ODI and the BLS Annual Survey collect information on occupational injuries and illnesses from private-sector establishments, BLS collects data from a sample of all private-sector companies, and info on the demographics and circumstances of lost time injuries and illnesses. The BLS survey does not provide the establishment specific data that OSHA needs.

The ODI survey that informs enforcement programs that help OSHA achieve its goal of reducing the number of injuries and illnesses that occur at individual workplaces by directing enforcement resources to those workplaces having the highest rates.

What Does OSHA Know About Your Company?

OSHA knows as much about your company as reported through the ODI data collection process; the information OSHA has comes straight from organizations that participate in the ODI. So, OSHA knows only what you tell it and related federal agencies, and the information is only as current as the last round of annual ODI data collection.

For each data collection cycle, OSHA only grabs information from a small portion of all private sector establishments in the United States (80,000 out of 7.5 million total establishments).

If your organization provided OSHA with data from 1996 to 2009, then OSHA has some figures about your company. OSHA has a database with the name, address, and industry classification for your company, and associated Total Case Rate (TCR), Days Away, Restricted, and Transfer (DART) case rate, and the Days Away From Work (DAFWII) case rate.

According to OSHA, “While OSHA takes multiple steps to ensure the data collected is accurate, problems and errors invariably exist for a small percentage of businesses. OSHA does not believe the data for the establishments with the highest rates are accurate in absolute terms. Efforts were made during the collection cycle to correct submission errors, however some remain unresolved. It would be a mistake to say establishments with the highest rates are the “most dangerous” or “worst” establishments in the Nation.”

Description of Industry Groups Included in the OSHA DATA INITIATIVE

Approximately 80,000 establishments were surveyed in the 2012 ODI that collected 2011 injury and illness data. Establishments with 20 or more employees in the following industries were included in the data collection.

SIC Code by Industry