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OSHA releases workplace injury and illness information

As part of the Obama administration's "open government" policy, the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) for the first time has made available a searchable online database that allows the public to access establishment or industry-specific injury and illness data from more than 80,000 employers from 1996 to 2007. The data is available at www.osha.gov/pls/odi/establishment_search.html and Data.gov.

OSHA uses the data to calculate injury and illness incidence rates to guide its strategic management plan and focus its Site Specific Targeting Program, which it uses to target its inspections.

"Making injury and illness information available to the public is part of OSHA's response to the administration's commitment to make government more transparent to the American people," says David Michaels, OSHA's assistant secretary of labor. "This effort will improve the public's accessibility to workplace safety and health data and ensure the agency can function more effectively for American workers."

Information available includes an establishment's name, address, industry, associated total case rate, days away, restricted, transfer case rate and days away from work case rate. The data is specific to the establishments that provided OSHA with valid data through the 2008 data collection. The database does not contain rates calculated by OSHA for establishments that submitted suspect or unreliable data.

Data.gov provides expanded public access to valuable work force-related data generated by the federal government's executive branch. Although the Web site's initial launch provides a limited portion of the numerous federal datasets presently available, the public is invited to suggest additional data sets and site enhancements to provide seamless public access and use of federal data.

For more information about the Department of Labor's Open Government Web site, visit www.dol.gov/open/.

1/28/2010  

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