Voluntary Pre Notification Letter

U.S. Department of Labor

Bureau of Labor Statistics
2 Massachusetts Ave., N.E.
Washington, D.C. 20212

Dear Employer:
As the manager of a State or local government organization, you are requested to participate in the 2011
Survey of Occupational Injuries and Illnesses. The Occupational Safety and Health Act includes
language that requires the Secretary of Labor to “develop and maintain an effective program of collection,
compilation, and analysis of occupational safety and health statistics.” The Survey of Occupational
Injuries and Illnesses, conducted by the Bureau of Labor Statistics, is part of this data collection program.
In preparation for this survey, during 2011, you are asked to record any work-related injuries and illnesses
that occur in your workplace. Directions for obtaining instructions about the recording of cases can be
found in the notification booklet. In early 2012, you will receive instructions for completing the survey,
which will collect information about the cases that you have recorded during the past year. While your
participation is voluntary, it is important in providing information that will help protect workers. Without the
cooperation of State and local governments in States such as yours that do not have a State plan, we
would not be able to produce national estimates of workplace injuries and illnesses for State and local
governments. The State and local government sector employs over 14 percent of the American
workforce and its inclusion is vital to improving our knowledge of the number, frequency, and types of
work-related injuries and illnesses occurring in the workplace.
When requested to respond next year, your reporting will not need to be time consuming. At that time,
you will be able to submit your survey response in many ways: online, obtaining a fillable form through email, or requesting and completing the paper survey form and returning it using standard US mail. In
many cases substitute forms or photocopies of forms already prepared for your State Workers’
Compensation Agency can be accepted.
The Bureau of Labor Statistics, its employees, agents, and partner statistical agencies will use the
information you record this year and provide next year for statistical purposes only and will hold the
information in confidence to the full extent permitted by law. In accordance with the Confidential
Information Protection and Statistical Efficiency Act of 2002 (Title 5 of Public Law 107-347) and other
applicable Federal Laws, your responses will not be disclosed in identifiable form without your consent.
Please take the time to read the enclosed materials and then record any work-related injuries and
illnesses that occur in your workplace during 2011. The information you will be asked to provide early
next year is important to reducing work-related injuries and illnesses.
Sincerely,

John W. Ruser, Ph.D.
Assistant Commissioner
Office of Safety, Health and Working Conditions
Bureau of Labor Statistics