Revision of the Occupational Injuries and Illnesses Classification System

A major revision of the Occupational Injury and Illness Classification System (OIICS) was introduced in 2010. OIICS is used to classify occupational injury, illness, and fatality data published by the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) and is also used by researchers in other Federal Government agencies, by several State workers' compensation agencies, and other organizations. The original OIICS, released in 1992, was developed by BLS with input from data users. It was also approved for use as the American National Standard for Information Management for Occupational Safety and Health in 1995. The revised OIICS coding structure is designed to: capture workplace hazards resulting from technological changes that have taken place since the OIICS was initially released; include new or emerging workplace conditions; resolve existing coding issues; and provide for new data aggregations. The revision involved a thorough review of: 1) a large number of proposals from stakeholders; 2) existing injury and illness data to assess coding anomalies; 3) the International Classification of Diseases, Tenth Revision (ICD-10); 4) regulations from the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA); and 5) a variety of other information on occupational injuries and illnesses, workplace hazards, and equipment used in various industries. The revised structure will add, delete, and change codes, causing breaks in data series.