The U.S. House of Representatives issued a special report in June of 2008 on the status of recordkeeping and how it has been underreported, “But extensive evidence from academic studies, media reports and worker testimony shows that work-related injuries and illnesses in the United States are chronically and even grossly underreported. As much as 69 percent of injuries and illnesses may never make it into the Survey of Occupational Injuries and Illnesses (SOII), the nation’s annual workplace safety and health “report card” generated by the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS).”

While the report does reach some interesting conclusions, it is not something really new to many safety professionals.  In a previous article I reported how a company failed to report an injured employee to keep the incident off the books.  Now we know it happens a lot more than we thought.  We don’t want to think it happens, but incidents cost money and production time.  The fewer incidents that are reported keep certain cost, such as worker’s comp prices and healthcare, from rising.  Also, many safety professionals job are dependent on showing a decline in the number of incidents reported.  Therefore a borderline call may never make it to the OSHA 300 form.  At least now we know that the incident rate reported by the BLS is not totally accurate.  The question is, will this really change anything? 

Let’s hear from you.  We value all your comments and concerns relating to this and any other issues.