Ohio WC agency gets federal grant for statistical input

More than $100,000 will help Ohio regulators survey employers about occupational injuries and illnesses.

The Ohio Bureau of Workers' Compensation announced the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics granted the $117,000 award for Ohio's participation in the Survey of Occupational Injuries and Illnesses.

More than 40 states participate in the national survey, the largest occupational injury and illness surveillance system in the country. The aim is to increase workplace safety through analysis of nationwide statistics on occupational injuries and illnesses.

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"BWC's participation will allow for a more comprehensive understanding of the nature and extent of occupational injuries and illness in Ohio, as well as benchmark our prevention efforts against the rest of the nation," said Al-Tarawneh, the bureau's superintendent of safety and hygiene. "BWC's Division of Safety and Hygiene is taking a more active role in conducting research to analyze industry trends, as well as how and why injuries occur, because we will be most effective in taking action when we know the factors surrounding those injuries."

The BWC will use the 50 percent matching grant to distribute surveys to 4,000 Ohio employers. The collected data will be analyzed to publish annual research reports specific to Ohio, which will be included in the analyses of nationwide trends.

Information from the SOII is designed to provide an estimate of the number of work-related injuries and illnesses and a measure of the frequency at which they occur, according to the BLS. It is used to identify and correct workplace hazards by the following stakeholders:

National and state policymakers -- as an indicator of the occupational safety and health conditions across industries and types of workers.
OSHA -- to help determine where additional measures are needed to improve safety programs and to measure the effectiveness of the 1970 act in reducing work-related injuries and illnesses.
Labor and management -- to design and evaluate safety programs.

Other users include insurance carriers, industrial hygienists, manufacturers of safety equipment, researchers, and others concerned with job safety and health.

Read more at the WorkersComp Forum homepage.

October 8, 2012

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