What is SOII?
The Survey of Occupational Injuries and Illnesses (SOII) is a mandatory program run in cooperation with the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) that collects data on nonfatal injuries and illnesses by industry, as well as demographic information on injured workers. Employers can use the data to compare their injury and illness rates with state and national averages for their industry to evaluate the effectiveness of their safety programs. Public health officials can use the data to understand trends in safety, injury, and illnesses at work. The BLS releases annual estimates of incidence rates and employer-reported injuries and illnesses by industry in November.
Why have I never heard of SOII before?
You may not have heard of SOII before because it is relatively new to Colorado. The first survey year in Colorado was 2022. The survey has occurred in other states since the 1970s.
How can I use this data?
The results of the survey are available to all users both in print and on the BLS website. These new tools can help you as an employer to compare your incidence rates to the survey results for your industry.
The incident rate calculator can help you calculate your own rates and, at the same time, access the national or state rates with which to compare yours. Profiles of cases that involve days away from work are also sortable by the nature of the injury or illness, the source of the injury or illness, the part of the body affected, and the event that caused the injury or illness. In addition, data are also available for certain demographic characteristics including occupation, industry, age, gender, and work experience. Visit the BLS website to create your own profile table.
How likely am I to be selected for SOII?
The BLS randomly selects employers from private industry and the public sector to participate in the SOII each January. The random selection process is, however, weighted in such a way that larger companies may be chosen more frequently than smaller companies, the latter of which may only be selected every few years. The sample is designed to represent all in-scope industries in each participating state or U.S. territory.
How do I know if I have been selected?
The BLS notifies establishments in writing in advance of the year they will be selected to participate in the SOII. The notice is called a Notification of Requirement to Participate in the SOII and is usually sent in December. The notice will indicate the calendar year for which the establishment will need to keep OSHA records and provide data to the BLS.
- To update a mailing address or contact information, submit a request through the CDPHE Worker Health and Safety Support Form.
Why have I been chosen for this survey?
You were randomly selected along with about 230,000 establishments across the country to provide representative data from different states, industries, and workforce sizes. Your data will be used to provide statistics of workplace injuries and illnesses that inform research and policies to help protect America's workers and are not used for compliance or regulatory purposes.
What is the difference between reporting to OSHA and reporting to BLS SOII?
The Occupational Safety and Health Administration’s (OSHA) Injury Tracking Application (ITA) is an electronic reporting requirement for some establishments. The SOII is a mandatory survey of establishments administered by BLS for statistical purposes and is not related to OSHA’s ITA. Note that BLS SOII is not used by CDPHE for compliance or regulatory purposes.
BLS and OSHA are separate federal government agencies. Some employers may be required to report to both OSHA and to the BLS SOII; some employers may be OSHA-exempt but may still be required by law to participate in BLS SOII (if selected for that survey year).
If you are unsure if you need to report for the BLS SOII, email the Colorado team at colorado-soii-help@bls.gov.
What information do I need to submit the survey?
Submitting the survey via U.S. mail:
Step 1: Complete this survey only for the establishment(s) noted on the front cover under "Report for: ."
Step 2: Check "Your Company Name" printed on the front cover. Make any necessary corrections directly on the front cover.
Step 3: Refer to your establishment's OSHA Forms for Recording Work-Related Injuries and Illnesses. Copies of these forms were mailed to you at the end of the previous calendar year (e.g., in late 2023, for completion during the 2024 calendar year and reporting to the BLS SOII program in 2025).
- If your workplace had no work-related injuries and illnesses in the reporting year (e.g., 2024 is the reporting year for spring 2025 responses), answer all questions in Section 1 and 4 of the survey.
- If your workplace had at least one work-related injury or illness in the reporting year , answer all questions in Sections 1, 2, and 4 of the survey.
- Report cases with “Days Away From Work” or with “Job Transfer” or “Restriction” in Section 3.
Step 4: In case we have questions, write the name of the person who completed this survey on the last page under Section 4: Contact Information.
Step 5: Return this survey and any attachments in the enclosed envelope within 30 days of receiving it.
Submitting the survey via the IDCF portal:
- To log on through the IDCF portal, you will need the username and password that was provided to you on your survey notice, located on the bottom right (along with NAICS code*).
- Your company address is presented in the bottom left of the label. If you need to make changes to your company address, you can note those changes on the front of the survey.
Are there other ways to submit besides through the IDCF portal?
Submitting through the IDCF portal is the best way to submit your survey. Information for logging into the IDCF portal can be found in your mailer, or by visiting the BLS website.
You can also enter your survey information in this fillable survey form and email it to colorado-soii-help@bls.gov.
To mail your submission, please send it to the following address:
Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment
4300 Cherry Creek Drive South
DCPHR-A3 (ATTN: BLS SOII)
Denver, CO 80246
How do I calculate average employment?
To calculate the annual average number of employees your establishment paid during the reporting year (e.g., when filling out the survey in spring 2025, the reporting year is 2024), you must calculate the total number of employees your establishment paid for all pay periods. Add the number of employees your establishment paid in every pay period during the calendar year (e.g., when filling out the survey in spring 2025, the calendar year is 2024). Count all employees that you paid at any time during the year and include full-time, part-time, temporary, seasonal, salaried, and hourly workers. Note that pay periods could be monthly, weekly, bi-weekly, etc.
- Divide the total number of employees (from step 1) by the number of pay periods your establishment had in the reporting year. Be sure to count any pay periods when you had no (zero) employees.
- Round the answer you computed in step 2 to the next highest whole number.
How should I calculate total hours worked?
Count the number of regular and overtime hours worked by employees during the calendar year. Exclude vacation, sick days, holidays, and any other non-work time.*
*If you are uncertain of the precise number of hours worked (i.e., for salaried workers), then a reasonable estimate is an acceptable substitute. More information on this calculation can be found on the BLS website.
We have multiple work sites, some in other states. Which should we report for?
Report only for the location(s) identified on the front page under "Report for:". Instructions on how to locate this section are located on the BLS website. If the instruction says "Report for: Statewide Operations of Addressed Firm" or something similar, report for all your worksites in that state. Do not include information for establishments in other states. If you are not sure what to do, contact colorado-soii-help@bls.gov.
How do I know if a case should be classified as a DAFW case or a DJTR case?
Days of job transfer or restriction (DJTR) cases are injuries and illnesses which result only in job transfer or restricted work activity without days away from work. This occurs when, as the result of a work-related injury or illness, an employer or healthcare professional recommends restricting an employee from performing routine job functions or from completing the full workday that the employee would have been scheduled to work before the injury or illness occurred. This may include the following instances:
- An employee is assigned to another job on a temporary basis;
- An employee works at a permanent job less than full time;
- An employee works at a permanently assigned job but is unable to perform all duties normally connected with that job.
Days away from work (DAFW) includes injuries or illnesses for which employees used days away from work (beyond the initial day of injury or onset of illness) to recover from an occupational injury or illness. The number of days away from work is determined by the number of calendar days after the date of the injury or illness, before an employee returns to work. These cases may include days of job transfer or restricted work activity in addition to days away from work.
- For example, an employee suffers a work-related injury resulting in five days away from work and upon returning to work, the employee is unable to perform normal duties associated with the job for an additional three days (i.e., the employee was on restricted work activity).
- This case would be recorded as a days-away-from-work case with five days away from work and three days of restricted work activity. It would not be recorded as a days-of-job-transfer-or-restriction case.
Note: According to OSHA recordkeeping rules, you should classify a case according to its most serious outcome.
Is the information I provide confidential?
Yes. Your information and identity are kept in strict confidence in accordance with Bureau of Labor Statistics Data Integrity Guidelines, and used for statistical purposes only.
I still don’t feel comfortable providing employees' names when reporting case information. What should I do?
You are able to report case information for employees by listing them as “Employee 1, Employee 2,” etc.
Do I need to report remote employees?
Yes. You should include any remote employees who would be recorded on the OSHA log of the surveyed establishment if they experienced a recordable injury or illness. Be sure to include the average number of employees and total hours worked for these remote workers, as well.
I believe my establishment is exempt from BLS SOII participation. How can I verify?
All private employers in Colorado who are selected for participation in the BLS SOII are mandated by law to report injury and illness information. Exemptions are limited and include Department of Energy (DOE) contractors, public sector (participation is voluntary), and some small agricultural operations with less than 10 employees. For more information, refer to the chart below.
Scope of covered incidents in the Survey of Occupational Injuries and Illnesses (SOII)
| Characteristic | Survey of Occupational Injuries and Illnesses (SOII) |
|---|---|
1 Government establishments are not required to respond in Colorado
“For state and local government employers, your state laws determine whether participation in the survey [SOII] is mandatory.” https://www.bls.gov/respondents/iif/faqs.htm.
2 Data for nonparticipating states are collected and used solely for the tabulation of national estimates.
3 SOII does not cover workers regulated by other federal agencies, 29 U.S.C. § 653(b)(1) (2011). For example, mines regulated by the Mine Safety and Health Administration or rail transportation firms regulated by the Federal Railroad Administration, nor does it cover federal workers per 29 U.S.C. § 652(5) (2011).
4 Self-employed workers are not covered by the Occupational Safety Act of 1970. https://www.osha.gov/pls/oshaweb/owadisp.show_document?p_table=STANDARDS&p_id=12775.
5 Different state OSHA plans may cover volunteers. For more information on if a state covers volunteers, contact the respective state OSHA office. National OSHA regulations do not cover volunteer workers; please see 29 C.F.R. § 1904(31)(a) (2013). See also https://webapps.dol.gov/elaws/osharecordkeeping.htm.
6 The “small agriculture” exclusion is due to a recurring appropriations rider for OSHA that exempts agricultural operations employing 10 or fewer employees from the 1970 OSH Act in its entirety, including mandatory response to the BLS annual survey.
7 Mining data are collected by the Mine Safety and Health Administration (MSHA) and are provided to SOII for inclusion in the estimates.
8 Railroad data are collected by the Federal Railroad Administration (FRA) and are provided to SOII for inclusion in the estimates.
9 Though technically no longer excluded from coverage under the Occupational Safety and Health Act of 1970 due to amended language in the 1998 Postal Employees Safety Enhancement Act, BLS has not yet modified SOII to include the U.S. Postal Service.
10 Cases that occur in territorial waters within 3 nautical miles from the general coastline or 9 nautical miles (3 leagues) from Texas, Florida, and Puerto Rico are included. For additional rules, including if the vessel is attached to the seabed, see https://www.osha.gov/pls/oshaweb/owadisp.show_document?p_table=INTERPRETATIONS&p_id=29408.