On November 16, 2009, the United States Government Accountability Office (GAO) released an October 2009 report finding that OSHA’s efforts to verify employers’ workplace injury and illness data may not be adequate. OSHA monitors workplace injury and illness data to allocate enforcement and outreach resources, evaluate programs’ effectiveness, and determine standards development priorities.

The GAO report focused on OSHA’s efforts to verify the data it collects from employers on workers’ injuries and illnesses through its annual OSHA Data Initiatives survey. The GAO report found that OSHA does not always require inspectors to interview workers about injuries and illnesses. GAO observed that these interviews could help OSHA evaluate the accuracy of the records because they are the only source of data not provided by the employers. During interviews with OSHA inspectors, GAO learned that OSHA conducts records audits approximately two years after incidents are recorded, thus many workers are no longer employed at the worksite and cannot be interviewed.

The GAO report also found that OSHA does not review the accuracy of injury and illness records for worksites in eight high hazard industries because it has not updated the industry codes used to identify these industries since 2002. GAO learned that an update of industry codes requires a regulatory change that is not currently an agency priority.

GAO made four recommendations to OSHA to verify the accuracy of employer-provided injury and illness data: (1) require inspectors to interview workers during records audits to obtain information on injuries or illnesses; (2) minimize the amount of time between the date employers record injuries or illnesses and the date OSHA conducts an audit; (3) update the list of high hazard industries used to select worksites for records audits and other purposes; and (4) increase education and training to employers to help them determine which injuries and illnesses are recordable.

Prior to the report’s release, OSHA submitted a response to a draft report it received from GAO. In its response, OSHA stated it shares the concerns addressed by GAO. Accordingly, OSHA plans to (1) require inspectors to interview employees during record audits; (2) develop policies to conduct record audit inspections in a timely fashion; (3) pursue rulemaking to update the industry coverage of the recordkeeping rule; and (4) supplement current educational outreach programs.