On June 19, 2008, the House Committee on Education and Labor held a hearing on the underreporting of workplace injuries and illnesses. Despite indications that the number of workplace injuries is decreasing, the hearing was prompted by recent newspaper articles and scholarly surveys suggesting significant inaccuracies in the reporting of workplace accidents and illnesses. The testimony focused on the methods used by the Occupational Health & Safety Administration (OSHA) in gathering and reporting worker safety data.

Mr. A.C. Span, Jr., an injured worker, Dr. Robert McLellan, Immediate Past President of the American Conference of Occupation and Environmental Medicine, and Dr. Kenneth Rosenman, Professor of Medicine at Michigan State University, testified in support of revising current OSHA practices. Each pointed to OSHA’s reliance on gathering information solely from employers as a significant part of the underreporting problem. Both Mr. Span and Dr. McLellan highlighted the pressure employees experience to hide their injuries from employers in order to avoid sanctions or reductions in pay. Dr. Rosenman supported the anecdotal testimony with information from studies that suggest underreporting could be as high as 66% in some industries.  He found that a mismatch exists between the employees’ goals of securing health care and the employers’ desires to avoid inspections and audits by OSHA. In support of this position, Chairman Miller (D-CA) encouraged interviewing both employers and employees in order to advance accurate reporting.

Mr. Bob Whitmore, Former Chief of OSHA, Division of Recordkeeping, who did not represent OSHA but testified on his own behalf, also supported revisions to OSHA practices. Instead of focusing on the role played by the employer, Mr. Whitmore believed the underreporting stemmed from problems within OSHA. He contended that OSHA wants to appear as if it is fulfilling its duty to reduce the number of workplace injuries and illnesses. However, by undertaking a stricter enforcement role, underreported cases would be exposed, resulting in an increase in the number of injuries. Ultimately, Mr. Whitmore believes Congress must acknowledge the underreporting before OSHA can adequately enforce workplace safety reporting.

Although acknowledging some underreporting, Mr. Baruch Fellner, a partner from Gibson, Dunn & Crutcher, LLP representing the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, testified that the majority of employers are accurately reporting cases. Mr. Fellner was wary to overhaul the OSHA system without more information regarding the inaccuracies in the system and their origins. In response to questioning, Mr. Fellner refuted the use of data obtained by cross-referencing worker compensation or hospitals records since they include individuals outside of OSHA’s jurisdiction and have different definitional standards of an injury compared to those classified by OSHA.

Likewise, Mr. John Ruser, Assistant Commissioner of Safety and Health Statistics at the Bureau of Labor Statistics, did not advocate immediate reform of OSHA. Instead, he outlined changes OSHA is currently undertaking, including additional research on underreporting and expanding OSHA to include government workers; this point was supported by Chairman Miller (D-CA).

Rep. Sarbanes (D-MD), Rep. Woolsey (D-CA), Rep. Kildee (D-MI), and Chairman Miller  supported a review of OSHA practices and acknowledged the problem of accurately reporting worker injuries and illnesses. Although no specific reform was mentioned, Rep. Sarbanes worried that current OSHA practices may actually promote non-reporting. Ranking Member McKeon (R-CA) expressed hesitancy to change OSHA procedures. Rather, he encouraged Congress to take a closer look at current record-keeping practices and supported providing guidance to employers, notifying them of their responsibility to report worker injuries and illnesses.