Why this counts: slips, trips and falls in the workplace
By Erica Groshen,the commissioner of the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS).
Every so often as I walk down the halls of the BLS headquarters building in Washington, D.C., I notice a few drips of coffee or water on our otherwise shiny floors. My first reaction is to stoop down and wipe up the spill, or to grab one of the handy “caution” signs we have around the building, to avoid a slip or fall. But my mind quickly turns to our data on slips and falls from our Survey of Occupational Injuries and Illnesses, or SOII. Over the past several weeks, we have issued two releases highlighting the latest results on workplace injuries and illnesses. These are part of our occupational safety and health statistics program that also includes data on fatal workplace injuries. Today I want to tell you a little bit about the SOII program and the data we provide.