2008 Appendix: Glossary

All other occupational illnesses.
Illnesses other than skin diseases or disorders, respiratory conditions, or poisoning. Examples include anthrax, brucellosis, infectious hepatitis, malignant and benign tumors, food poisoning, histoplasmosis, coccidioidomycosis.
Bench marking.
The process of adjusting a set of estimates based on a reference of standard for one or more of the estimates. In the annual survey, it is used to increase the precision of the estimates (due to the use of a ratio estimator) and to impute for births (i.e., adjust for new companies). The reference used is the annual average employment.
Days away from work or days of restricted work activity.
Count the number of calendar days the employee was on restricted work activity or was away from work as a result of the recordable injury or illness. Do not count the day on which the injury or illness occurred. Begin counting days from the day after the incident occurred. If a single injury or illness involved both days away from work and days of restricted work activity, enter the total number of days for each. Stop counting days away from work or days of restricted work activity once the total of either or the combination of both reaches 180 days.
Days of job transfer or restricted work activity.
The number of workdays on which, because of injury or illness:
  1. the employee was assigned to another job on a temporary basis;
  2. the employee worked at a permanent job less than full-time; or
  3. the employee worked at a permanently assigned job but could not perform all duties normally connected with it.
Establishment.
The physical location of a certain economic activity—for example, a factory, mine, store, or office. A single establishment generally produces a single good or provides a single service. An enterprise (a private firm, government, or nonprofit organization) can consist of a single establishment or multiple establishments. All establishments in an enterprise may be classified in one industry (e.g., a chain), or they may be classified in different industries (e.g., a conglomerate).
Event or exposure.
Signifies the manner in which an occupational injury or illness was produced or inflicted—for example, overexertion while lifting, or a fall from a ladder.
Fatality rate.
Represents the number of fatal injuries per 100,000 workers, calculated as follows: (N/W) X 100,000, where N = number of fatal injuries, W = number of workers employed, and 100,000 = base to express the fatality rate per 100,000 workers.
First-aid treatment.
One time treatment and subsequent observation of minor scratches, cuts, burns, splinters, etc., which do not ordinarily require medical care.
Goods-producing industries (North American Industry Classification System).
Includes manufacturing, construction, and natural resources and mining.
Hispanic or Latino ethnicity.
Refers to persons who identified themselves in the enumeration process as being Spanish, Hispanic, or Latino. Persons of Hispanic or Latino ethnicity may be of any race.
Hours worked.
The total hours worked by all employees during the report period. Includes all time on duty, but does not include vacation, holidays, sick leave and all other non-work time even though paid.
Incidence rate.
Represents the number of injuries and/or illnesses per 100 full-time workers. The rate is calculated as: (N/EH) X 200,000,where: N = number of occupational injuries and/or illnesses, EH = total hours worked by all employees during the calendar year, and 200,000 = base for 100 full-time equivalent workers (working 40 hours per week, 50 weeks per year).
Industry.
A group of establishments that produce similar products or provide similar services. For example, all establishments that manufacture automobiles are in the same industry. A given industry, or even a particular establishment in that industry, might have employees in dozens of occupations. The North American Industry Classification System (NAICS) groups similar establishments into industries. NAICS is replacing the former Standard Industrial Classification (SIC) system.
Log of Work-Related Injuries and Illnesses.
The Log of Work-Related Injuries and Illnesses is used to classify work-related injuries and illnesses and to note the extent and severity of each case. The Log is used to record specific details about what happened and how it happened.
Lost-worktime cases.
Cases involving days away from work, or days of restricted work activity, or both.
Lost-worktime cases involving days away from work.
Cases resulting in days away from work, or a combination of days away from work and days of restricted work activity.
Lost-worktime cases involving restricted work activity.
Cases resulting in restricted work activity only.
Median days away from work.
The measure used to summarize the varying lengths of absences from work among the cases with days away from work. The median is the point at which half of the cases involved more days away from work and half involved less days away from work.
Medical treatment.
Treatment administered by a physician or licensed health care professional. Medical treatment does not include first aid treatment even if provided by a physician or licensed health care professional. Medical treatment includes managing and caring for a patient for the purpose of combating disease or disorder.
Nature of injury or illness.
Names the principal physical characteristics of a disabling condition, such as sprain/strain, cut/laceration, or carpal tunnel syndrome.
North American Industry Classification System (NAICS).
The successor to the Standard Industrial Classification (SIC) system; this system of classifying business establishments is being adopted by the United States, Canada, and Mexico. NAICS groups establishments into industries based on the activity in which they are primarily engaged. Establishments using similar raw material inputs, similar capital equipment, and similar labor are classified in the same industry. Establishments that do similar things in similar ways are classified together. NAICS uses a six digit hierarchical coding system to classify all economic activity into twenty industry sectors. Five sectors are mainly goods-producing sectors and fifteen are entirely services-producing sectors. This six digit hierarchical structure allows greater coding flexibility than the four digit structure of the SIC.
Occupation.
A set of activities or tasks that employees are paid to perform. Employees that perform essentially the same tasks are in the same occupation, whether or not they work in the same industry. Some occupations are concentrated in a few particular industries; other occupations are found in many industries.
Occupational groups.
A group of related occupations; examples: sales occupations and service occupations.
Occupational illness.
Any abnormal condition or disorder, other than one resulting from an occupational injury, caused by exposure to factors associated with employment. It includes acute and chronic illnesses or diseases which may be caused by inhalation, absorption, ingestion, or direct contact. The following categories are used by employers to classify recordable occupational illnesses. The examples given are not to be considered the complete listing of the types of illnesses and disorders that are counted under each category as shown on the survey form.
  1. Skin diseases or disorders. Skin disease or disorders are illnesses involving the worker’s skin that are caused by work exposure to chemicals, plants, or other substances.
    Examples: contact dermatitis, eczema, or rash caused by primary irritants and sensitizers or poisonous plants; oil acne; friction blisters; chrome ulcers; or inflammation of the skin.
  2. Respiratory conditions. Respiratory conditions are illnesses associated with breathing hazardous biological agents, chemicals, dust, gases, vapors, or fumes at work.
    Examples: silicosis, asbestosis, pneumonitis; pharyngitis; rhinitis or acute congestion; farmer’s lung, beryllium disease, tuberculosis, occupational asthma, reactive airways dysfunction syndrome (RADS), chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), hypersensitivity pneumonitis, toxic inhalation injury, such as metal fume fever, chronic obstructive bronchitis, and other pneumoconioses.
  3. Poisoning. Poisoning includes disorders evidenced by abnormal concentrations of toxic substances in blood, other tissues, other bodily fluids, or the breath that are caused by the ingestion or absorption of toxic substances into the body.
    Examples: poisoning by lead, mercury, cadmium, arsenic, or other metals; poisoning by carbon monoxide, hydrogen sulfide or other gases; poisoning by benzene, benzol, carbon tetrachloride, or other organic solvents; poisoning by insecticide sprays such as parathion or lead arsenate; poisoning by other chemicals such as formaldehyde.
  4. All other illnesses. All other occupational illnesses.
    Examples: heatstroke, sunstroke, heat exhaustion, heat stress and other effects of environmental heat; freezing, frostbite, and other effects of exposure to low temperatures; decompression sickness; effects of ionizing radiation (isotopes, x-rays, radium); effects of nonionizing radiation (welding flash, ultra-violet rays, lasers); anthrax; bloodborne pathogenic diseases, such as AIDS, HIV, hepatitis B or hepatitis C; brucellosis; infectious hepatitis; malignant or benign tumors; histoplasmosis; coccidioidomycosis.
Occupational injury.
Any injury such as a cut, fracture, sprain, amputation, etc., which results from a work-related event or from a single instantaneous exposure in the work environment.
Occupational Injury and Illness Classification System (OIICS).
The BLS developed the OIICS to provide a set of procedures for selecting and recording facts related to an occupational injury or illness. BLS developed the coding scheme for use in the Census of Fatal Occupational Injuries and the Survey of Occupational Injuries and Illnesses. The five characteristics included in OIICS are: nature of injury or illness which describes the physical characteristics of the injury or illness; part of body which identifies the part of the body directly affected by the nature; source 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; and secondary source which identifies the other object or substance that contributed to the event or exposure.
Part of body affected.
Directly linked to the nature of injury or illness cited, such as back, finger, or eye.
Privacy concern cases.
The following types of injuries or illnesses are privacy concern cases:
  1. an injury or illness to an intimate body part or to the reproductive system;
  2. an injury or illness resulting from a sexual assault;
  3. a mental illness;
  4. a case of HIV infection, hepatitis, or tuberculosis;
  5. a needlestick injury or cut from a sharp object that is contaminated with blood or other potentially infectious material; and
  6. other illnesses, if the employee independently and voluntarily requests that his or her name not be entered on the log.
Recordable injuries and illnesses.
Recordable cases include work-related injuries and illnesses that result in one or more of the following: death, loss of consciousness, days away from work, restricted work activity or job transfer, medical treatment (beyond first aid), significant work-related injuries or illnesses that are diagnosed by a physician or other licensed health care professional (these include any work-related case involving cancer, chronic irreversible disease, a fracture or cracked bone, or a punctured eardrum); additional criteria include any needle-stick injury or cut from a sharp object that is contaminated with another person’s blood or other potentially infectious material, any case requiring an employee to be medically removed under the requirements of an OSHA health standard, tuberculosis infection as evidenced by a positive skin test or diagnosis by a physician or other licensed health care professional after exposure to a known case of tuberculosis.
Respiratory condition due to toxic agents.
Examples: Pneumonitis, pharyngitis, rhinitis or acute congestion due to chemicals, dusts, gases, or fumes; farmer’s lung.
Restricted work activity.
Restricted work activity occurs when, as the result of a work-related injury or illness, an employer or health care professional keeps, or recommends keeping, an employee from doing the routine functions of his or her job or from working the full workday that the employee would have been scheduled to work before the injury or illness occurred.
Sample.
A subset of a universe; usually selected randomly and considered representative of the universe.
Sample frame.
A listing of all units in the universe from which a sample can be drawn.
Sampling cell (strata).
The parts into which the sampling frame is partitioned, for the purpose of stratified sampling.
Service-providing industries (North American Industry Classification System).
Includes trade, transportation, and utilities; information; financial activities; professional and business services; education and health services; leisure and hospitality; other services.
Source of injury or illness.
The object, substance, exposure, or bodily motion that directly produced or inflicted the disabling condition cited. Examples include lifting a heavy box; exposure to a toxic substance, fire or flame; and bodily motion of an injured or ill worker.
Standard Industrial Classification (SIC) system.
The SIC system has been used throughout the Federal Government to group establishments into industries. The SIC system is being gradually replaced by the North American Industry Classification System (NAICS).
Standard Occupational Classification (SOC) system.
This system is used by Federal statistical agencies to classify workers into occupational categories for the purpose of collecting, calculating, or disseminating data. All workers are classified into one of over 820 occupations according to their occupational definition. To facilitate classification, occupations are combined to form 23 major groups, 96 minor groups, and 449 broad occupations. Each broad occupation includes detailed occupation(s) requiring similar job duties, skills, education, or experience.
Summary.
The summary form shows the work-related injury and illness totals for the year in each category.
Symptoms, signs, and ill-defined conditions.
This division classifies symptoms, signs, or abnormal results from laboratory or investigative medical tests or procedures. It includes those ill-defined conditions that cannot be classified elsewhere.
Systemic diseases and disorders.
This division classifies toxic and non-toxic disorders affecting systems of the body.
Temporary help agency.
Establishment primarily engaged in supplying workers to client businesses for limited periods of time to supplement the work force of the client; the individuals provided are employees of the temporary help service establishment, but these establishments do not provide direct supervision of their employees.
Traumatic injuries and disorders.
This division classifies traumatic injuries and disorders, effects of external agents, and poisoning. Generally, a traumatic injury or disorder is the result of a single incident, event, or exposure.
Universe.
The total number of units (for example, individuals, households, or businesses) in the population of interest.
Unpaid family workers.
Persons who work without pay for 15 or more hours per week on a farm or in a business operated by a member of the household to whom they are related by birth or marriage.
Wage and salary workers.
Workers who receive wages, salaries, commissions, tips, payment in kind, or piece rates. The group includes employees in both the private and public sectors.
Work environment.
The physical location, equipment, materials processed or used, and the kinds of operations performed by an employee in the performance of his or her work. The work environment includes the establishment and other locations where one or more employees are working or are present as a condition of their employment.
Work-related injury or illness.
An injury or illness is considered work-related if an event or exposure in the work environment caused or contributed to the condition or significantly aggravated a preexisting condition. Work-relatedness is presumed for injuries and illnesses resulting from events or exposures occurring in the workplace, unless an exception specifically applies.
Work relationship.
An employee must have had a verifiable work relationship with his or her employer to be included in the Census of Fatal Occupational Injuries. A work relationship exists if an event or exposure results in fatal injury or illness to a person under the following conditions: 1) ON the employer's premises and the person was there to work; or 2) OFF the employer's premises and the person was there to work, or the event or exposure was related to the person's work status as an employee. The employer's premises include buildings, grounds, parking lots, and other facilities and property used in the conduct of business. Work is defined as legal duties, activities, or tasks that produce a product as a result and that are done in exchange for money, goods, services, profit, or benefit.