September 2009

Department's Research and Analysis Staff Outperforms Other States

(l-r) Patricia Kelley, Melanie Hopkins, Ken Wilks,

Debbie Vaughan (behind Wilks), Starlet Ritter, and Connie Baskett.

The Department's Research and Analysis (R&A) staff deserve high praise for their hard work and dedication to the U.S. Department of Labor, Bureau of Labor Statistics' (BLS) Survey of Occupational Injuries and Illnesses Report, which places Missouri among the top four states nationally. The information staff was required to gather significantly increased this year due to the additional 300-plus public-sector employers (i.e., state and local governments, public school districts, etc.) from whom the BLS encouraged staff to collect injury and illness data. Of the more than 300 public-sector employers who were contacted by the R&A staff, only five did not provide some form of response to the survey.

Also for the first time this year, the BLS limited employers to an online response system for completing the survey and providing the injury and illness data. Due to several glitches in the BLS's online system, our staff had to contact numerous employers via telephone so the information could properly be entered. These system errors upset some employers, and our staff had to step in and personally assist them with several issues.

Regardless of the challenges our staff encountered, they were able to achieve the following successes:

• Missouri was the first state to reach the minimum 85 percent survey rate and response rate required for this survey by the BLS. This was achieved three months prior to the BLS deadline;
• Missouri reached a 100 percent survey rate (tied with another state for the highest rate nationally); and
• Missouri achieved a 98 percent response rate, placing it among the top four states nationally.

Congratulations to the R&A staff for their outstanding achievement!