The workplace is where 156 million working adults in the United States spend many waking hours, and it has a profound influence on health and well-being. Although some occupations and work-related activities are more hazardous than others and face higher rates of injuries, illness, disease, and fatalities, workers in all occupations face some form of work-related safety and health concerns. Understanding those risks to prevent injury, illness, or even fatal incidents is an important function of society.

Occupational safety and health (OSH) surveillance provides the data and analyses needed to understand the relationships between work and injuries and illnesses in order to improve worker safety and health and prevent work-related injuries and illnesses. Information about the circumstances in which workers are injured or made ill on the job and how these patterns change over time is essential to develop effective prevention programs and target future research. The nation needs a robust OSH surveillance system to provide this critical information for informing policy development, guiding educational and regulatory activities, developing safer technologies, and enabling research and prevention strategies that serves and protects all workers.

A Smarter National Surveillance System for Occupational Safety and Health in the 21st Century provides a comprehensive assessment of the state of OSH surveillance. This report is intended to be useful to federal and state agencies that have an interest in occupational safety and health, but may also be of interest broadly to employers, labor unions and other worker advocacy organizations, the workers' compensation insurance industry, as well as state epidemiologists, academic researchers, and the broader public health community. The recommendations address the strengths and weaknesses of the envisioned system relative to the status quo and both short- and long-term actions and strategies needed to bring about a progressive evolution of the current system.

Contents

• The National Academies of SCIENCES • ENGINEERING • MEDICINE
• COMMITTEE ON DEVELOPING A SMARTER NATIONAL SURVEILLANCE SYSTEM FOR OCCUPATIONAL SAFETY AND HEALTH IN THE 21ST CENTURY
• BOARD ON AGRICULTURE AND NATURAL RESOURCES
• COMMITTEE ON NATIONAL STATISTICS
• BOARD ON HEALTH SCIENCES POLICY
• Preface
• Acknowledgments
• Select Acronyms and Abbreviations
• Summary
  • INTRODUCTION
  • CLOSING REMARKS
• 1. Introduction
  • BACKGROUND
  • PURPOSE OF THIS STUDY
  • KEY TERMS AND DEFINITIONS
  • ORGANIZATION OF THE REPORT
  • REFERENCES
• 2. Building a “Smarter” National Surveillance System
  • GUIDING PRINCIPLES
  • OBJECTIVES
  • AN IDEAL SURVEILLANCE SYSTEM
  • TOOLS AND SOURCES FOR DATA COLLECTION
  • DATA CURATION
  • BARRIERS TO A SMARTER SURVEILLANCE SYSTEM
  • REFERENCES
• 3. Overview of Agencies and Stakeholders
  • BUREAU OF LABOR STATISTICS
  • OCCUPATIONAL SAFETY AND HEALTH ADMINISTRATION
  • NATIONAL INSTITUTE FOR OCCUPATIONAL SAFETY AND HEALTH
  • MINE SAFETY AND HEALTH ADMINISTRATION
  • OTHER FEDERAL AGENCIES
  • STATE AGENCIES
  • EMPLOYEES, EMPLOYERS, AND OTHER STAKEHOLDERS
  • FEDERAL AND STATE AGENCY COORDINATION, COLLABORATION, INFORMATION EXCHANGE, AND PUBLIC ENGAGEMENT ON OSH SURVEILLANCE
  • UPDATES ON THE RECOMMENDATIONS OF THE 1987 REPORT
  • SUMMARY AND CONCLUSIONS
  • REFERENCES
• 4. Current Status of Federal and State Programs and Cross-cutting Issues
  • INTRODUCTION
  • SURVEILLANCE OF FATAL OCCUPATIONAL INJURIES
  • SURVEILLANCE OF NONFATAL OCCUPATIONAL INJURIES
  • OCCUPATIONAL DISEASE SURVEILLANCE
  • OCCUPATIONAL HAZARD AND EXPOSURE SURVEILLANCE
  • CROSS-CUTTING ISSUES
  • SUMMARY
  • REFERENCES
• 5. International Approaches to Occupational Health Surveillance
  • OCCUPATIONAL FATALITIES
  • OCCUPATIONAL INJURIES
  • OCCUPATIONAL DISEASE
  • WORK HAZARDS OR EXPOSURES
  • REFERENCES
• 6. Promising Developments and Technologies
  • INTRODUCTION
  • IMPLEMENTING A HOUSEHOLD SURVEY
  • ELECTRONIC HEALTH RECORDS
  • CODING OF OCCUPATIONAL DATA
  • ELECTRONIC EMPLOYER-BASED REPORTING OF OCCUPATIONAL INJURY AND ILLNESS
  • MOBILIZING USE OF WORKERS' COMPENSATION DATA
  • LEVERAGING EXISTING SURVEYS AND DATA SYSTEMS
  • IMPROVING OCCUPATIONAL HAZARD AND EXPOSURE SURVEILLANCE
  • SUMMARY
  • REFERENCES
• 7. Key Actions to Move Forward with an Ideal National Occupational Safety and Health Surveillance System
  • SET FORTH A CLEAR RATIONALE AND PRIORITIZATION FOR OSH SURVEILLANCE
  • COORDINATE SURVEILLANCE STRATEGIES AND OPERATIONS AMONG KEY AGENCIES, ORGANIZATIONS, AND STAKEHOLDERS
  • USE INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY EFFECTIVELY
  • ENHANCE TRAINING AND SUPPORT FOR OSH SURVEILLANCE PRACTITIONERS
  • REFERENCES
• 8. Next Steps for Improving Worker Safety and Health Through a Smarter Occupational Surveillance System
  • VISION FOR A SMARTER SYSTEM
  • ACTION STEPS – REPORT RECOMMENDATIONS
  • CONCLUDING REMARKS
  • REFERENCES
• APPENDIXES
  • Appendix A. Recommendations
  • Appendix B. Committee Biosketches
  • Appendix C. Open Session Meeting Agendas
  • Appendix D. Updates on Recommendations from the 1987 National Research Council Report Counting Injuries and Illnesses in the Workplace: Proposals for a Better System
  • Appendix E. OSHA Form 300 and Related Pages

Suggested citation:

National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine. 2018. A Smarter National Surveillance System for Occupational Safety and Health in the 21st Century. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: https://doi.org/10.17226/24835.