Ellen Galantucci

Research Mathematical Statistician

Office of Compensation and Working Conditions

Bureau of Labor Statistics

November 2, 2021

Census of Fatal Occupational Injuries (CFOI) Hypercube

‹#› — U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics • bls.gov

Outline

What is the Census of Fatal Occupational Injuries (CFOI)?

Previous CFOI disclosure rules and challenges

Logic for how to improve CFOI disclosure

Results of disclosure updates

Other attempts to protect CFOI data

Future work

‹#› — U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics • bls.gov

What is CFOI?

Produces a complete count of all fatalities that occur during a calendar year as the result of workplace injuries

Detailed data are collected such as occupation, industry, demographic information about the decedent, cause of the fatality

There were 5,333 workplace fatalities in 2019

‹#› — U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics • bls.gov

CFOI Data Collection

Data are collected from a variety of sources

Some are public, such as news reports

Some are confidential, such as coroners’ reports and OSHA reports

Information is often pieced together from multiple sources to fill in information for a single case

‹#› — U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics • bls.gov

Why is CFOI so hard to protect?

Many of the data are public

The counts are small

It’s a census so there’s no question about who is in it

We want to produce a large number of statistics about a small number of cases

‹#› — U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics • bls.gov

CFOI Disclosure Rules

Any cells in which all data are collected from public sources are considered public and not subject to disclosure rules

For cells with all confidential data or a mix of public and confidential data, we use a sliding scale to determine disclosure risk based on: 

Number of incidents

Number of cases

Until RY2019, no secondary disclosure was applied within a single year’s publication

‹#› — U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics • bls.gov

Disclosure Example in CFOI
| Industry                                                      | NAICS code | Fatal injuries | Private sector wage and salary workers | Government workers | Self-employed workers |
|---------------------------------------------------------------|------------|----------------|----------------------------------------|--------------------|-----------------------|
| Architectural, engineering, and related services              | 5413       | 29             | 26                                     | –                  | 1                     |
| Architectural services                                        | 54131      | 3              | 3                                      | –                  | –                     |
| Engineering services                                          | 54133      | 14             | 12                                     | –                  | 1                     |
| Building inspection services                                  | 54135      | 4              | 3                                      | –                  | –                     |
| Surveying and mapping (except           geophysical) services | 54137      | 4              | 4                                      | –                  | –                     |
| Testing laboratories                                          | 54138      | 3              | 3                                      | –                  | –                     |

TABLE A-3. Fatal occupational injuries to private sector wage and salary workers, government workers, and 

self-employed workers by industry, all United States, 2018

‹#› — U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics • bls.gov

Secondary Disclosure in CFOI
| Industry                                                      | NAICS code | Fatal injuries | Private sector wage and salary workers | Government workers | Self-employed workers |
|---------------------------------------------------------------|------------|----------------|----------------------------------------|--------------------|-----------------------|
| Architectural, engineering, and related services              | 5413       | 29             | 26                                     | 2                  | 1                     |
| Architectural services                                        | 54131      | 3              | 3                                      | 0                  | 0                     |
| Engineering services                                          | 54133      | 14             | 12                                     | 1                  | 1                     |
| Building inspection services                                  | 54135      | 4              | 3                                      | 1                  | 0                     |
| Surveying and mapping (except           geophysical) services | 54137      | 4              | 4                                      | 0                  | 0                     |
| Testing laboratories                                          | 54138      | 3              | 3                                      | 0                  | 0                     |

TABLE A-3. Fatal occupational injuries to private sector wage and salary workers, government workers, and 

self-employed workers by industry, all United States, 2018

‹#› — U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics • bls.gov

Secondary Disclosure in CFOI
| Industry                                                      | NAICS code | Fatal injuries | Private sector wage and salary workers | Government workers | Self-employed workers |
|---------------------------------------------------------------|------------|----------------|----------------------------------------|--------------------|-----------------------|
| Architectural, engineering, and related services              | 5413       | 29             | 26                                     | -                  | -                     |
| Architectural services                                        | 54131      | 3              | 3                                      | 0                  | 0                     |
| Engineering services                                          | 54133      | 14             | 12                                     | -                  | -                     |
| Building inspection services                                  | 54135      | 4              | 3                                      | -                  | -                     |
| Surveying and mapping (except           geophysical) services | 54137      | 4              | 4                                      | 0                  | 0                     |
| Testing laboratories                                          | 54138      | 3              | 3                                      | 0                  | 0                     |

TABLE A-3. Fatal occupational injuries to private sector wage and salary workers, government workers, and 

self-employed workers by industry, all United States, 2018

‹#› — U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics • bls.gov

Secondary Disclosure in CFOI
| Industry                                                              | NAICS code | Fatal injuries | Violence and other injuries by persons or animals | Transportation incidents | Fires and explosions | Falls, slips, trips | Exposure to harmful substances or environments | Contact with objects and equipment |
|-----------------------------------------------------------------------|------------|----------------|---------------------------------------------------|--------------------------|----------------------|---------------------|------------------------------------------------|------------------------------------|
| Architectural, engineering,   and related services                    | 5413       | 27             | 1                                                 | 17                       | -                    | 3                   | 3                                              | 3                                  |
| Architectural services                                                | 54131      | 3              | -                                                 | 3                        | -                    | -                   | -                                              | -                                  |
| Engineering services                                                  | 54133      | 13             | -                                                 | 7                        | -                    | -                   | -                                              | 3                                  |
| Building inspection          services                                 | 54135      | 3              | 1                                                 | -                        | -                    | -                   | -                                              | -                                  |
| Surveying and mapping         (except geophysical)           services | 54137      | 4              | -                                                 | -                        | -                    | -                   | -                                              | -                                  |
| Testing laboratories                                                  | 54138      | 3              | -                                                 | 3                        | -                    | -                   | -                                              | -                                  |

TABLE A-9. Fatal occupational injuries by event or exposure for all fatal injuries and 

major private industry sector, all United States, 2018

‹#› — U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics • bls.gov

How to implement secondary disclosure?

Applying secondary disclosure within each published table individually would be easy but problematic

Table differencing

Data users want more data than just the tables on our website

A hypercube would protect all data

‹#› — U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics • bls.gov

Hypercube

Goal: to create an estimate for all possible combinations of all variables available in CFOI

Each combination screened for primary and secondary confidentiality and suppressions applied

Any suppressed cell would result in all “children” of that cell being suppressed

‹#› — U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics • bls.gov

Hypothetical Example
| Industry                                         | NAICS code | Fatal injuries(Calculated) | Fatal injuries(Published) |
|--------------------------------------------------|------------|----------------------------|---------------------------|
| Agriculture, forestry, fishing, and hunting      | 11         | 543                        | 543                       |
| Mining, quarrying, and oil and gas extraction    | 21         | 135                        | 135                       |
| Utilities                                        | 22         | 19                         | S                         |
| Construction                                     | 23         | 1,103                      | 1,103                     |
| Manufacturing                                    | 31-33      | 320                        | 320                       |
| Professional, Scientific, and Technical Services | 54         | 92                         | 92                        |
| Management of Companies and Enterprises          | 55         | 2                          | P                         |

‹#› — U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics • bls.gov

Hypothetical Example
| Event                                            | Event code | Fatal injuries(Calculated) | Fatal injuries(Published) |
|--------------------------------------------------|------------|----------------------------|---------------------------|
| Violence or other injuries by persons or animals | 1          | 192                        | 192                       |
| Transportation incidents                         | 2          | 707                        | 707                       |
| Fires and explosions                             | 3          | 57                         | 57                        |
| Falls, slips, trips                              | 4          | 454                        | 454                       |
| Exposure to harmful substances or environments   | 5          | 301                        | 301                       |
| Contact with objects and equipment               | 6          | 482                        | 482                       |
| Overexertion and bodily reaction                 | 7          | 21                         | 21                        |

‹#› — U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics • bls.gov

Hypothetical Example
| Industry                                         | NAICS code | Fatal injuries(Published) | Violence | Transportation | Fires | Falls, slips, trips | Exposure to substances | Contact objects or equip | Overexertion |
|--------------------------------------------------|------------|---------------------------|----------|----------------|-------|---------------------|------------------------|--------------------------|--------------|
| Total                                            |            |                           | 192      | 707            | 57    | 454                 | 301                    | 482                      | 21           |
| Agriculture, forestry, fishing, and hunting      | 11         | 543                       | 48       | 265            | 16    | 30                  | 35                     | 143                      | 6            |
| Mining, quarrying, and oil and gas extraction    | 21         | 135                       | 7        | 68             | 12    | 2 (P)               | 8                      | 34                       | 4            |
| Utilities                                        | 22         | 19 (S)                    | 1 (X)    | 5 (X)          | 1 (X) | 6 (X)               | 2 (X)                  | 4 (X)                    | 0 (X)        |
| Construction                                     | 23         | 1,103                     | 70       | 249            | 18    | 352                 | 200                    | 205                      | 9            |
| Manufacturing                                    | 31-33      | 320                       | 38       | 79             | 10    | 51                  | 48                     | 94                       | 0 (X)        |
| Professional, Scientific, and Technical Services | 54         | 92                        | 27       | 41             | 0 (X) | 12                  | 8                      | 2                        | 2            |
| Management of Companies and Enterprises          | 55         | 2 (P)                     | 1 (X)    | 0 (X)          | 0 (X) | 1 (X)               | 0 (X)                  | 0(X)                     | 0 (X)        |

‹#› — U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics • bls.gov

Hypothetical Example
| Industry                                         | NAICS code | Fatal injuries(Published) | Violence | Transportation | Fires | Falls, slips, trips | Exposure to substances | Contact objects or equip | Overexertion |
|--------------------------------------------------|------------|---------------------------|----------|----------------|-------|---------------------|------------------------|--------------------------|--------------|
| Total                                            |            |                           | 192      | 707            | 57    | 454                 | 301                    | 482                      | 21           |
| Agriculture, forestry, fishing, and hunting      | 11         | 543                       | 48       | 265            | 16    | 30                  | 35                     | 143                      | 6            |
| Mining, quarrying, and oil and gas extraction    | 21         | 135                       | 7        | 68             | 12    | 2 (P)               | 8                      | 34                       | 4 (S)        |
| Utilities                                        | 22         | 19 (S)                    | 1 (X)    | 5 (X)          | 1 (X) | 6 (X)               | 2 (X)                  | 4 (X)                    | 0 (X)        |
| Construction                                     | 23         | 1,103                     | 70       | 249            | 18    | 352                 | 200                    | 205                      | 9            |
| Manufacturing                                    | 31-33      | 320                       | 38       | 79             | 10    | 51                  | 48                     | 94                       | 0 (X)        |
| Professional, Scientific, and Technical Services | 54         | 92                        | 27       | 41             | 0 (X) | 12                  | 8                      | 2                        | 2            |
| Management of Companies and Enterprises          | 55         | 2 (P)                     | 1 (X)    | 0 (X)          | 0 (X) | 1 (X)               | 0 (X)                  | 0(X)                     | 0 (X)        |

‹#› — U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics • bls.gov

Hypothetical Example
| Industry                                         | NAICS code | Fatal injuries(Published) | Violence | Transportation | Fires  | Falls, slips, trips | Exposure to substances | Contact objects or equip | Overexertion |
|--------------------------------------------------|------------|---------------------------|----------|----------------|--------|---------------------|------------------------|--------------------------|--------------|
| Total                                            |            |                           | 192      | 707            | 57     | 454                 | 301                    | 482                      | 21           |
| Agriculture, forestry, fishing, and hunting      | 11         | 543                       | 48       | 265            | 16     | 30                  | 35                     | 143                      | 6            |
| Mining, quarrying, and oil and gas extraction    | 21         | 135                       | 7        | 68             | 12     | 2 (P)               | 8                      | 34                       | 4 (S)        |
| Utilities                                        | 22         | 19 (S)                    | 1 (X)    | 5 (X)          | 1 (X)  | 6 (X)               | 2 (X)                  | 4 (X)                    | 0 (X)        |
| Construction                                     | 23         | 1,103                     | 70       | 249            | 18     | 352                 | 200                    | 205                      | 9            |
| Manufacturing                                    | 31-33      | 320                       | 38       | 79             | 10 (S) | 51                  | 48                     | 94                       | 0 (X)        |
| Professional, Scientific, and Technical Services | 54         | 92                        | 27       | 41 (S)         | 0 (X)  | 12                  | 8 (S)                  | 2 (S)                    | 2 (S)        |
| Management of Companies and Enterprises          | 55         | 2 (P)                     | 1 (X)    | 0 (X)          | 0 (X)  | 1 (X)               | 0 (X)                  | 0(X)                     | 0 (X)        |

‹#› — U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics • bls.gov

Hypothetical Example
| Industry                                         | NAICS code | Fatal injuries(Published) | Violence | Transportation | Fires  | Falls, slips, trips | Exposure to substances | Contact objects or equip | Overexertion |
|--------------------------------------------------|------------|---------------------------|----------|----------------|--------|---------------------|------------------------|--------------------------|--------------|
| Total                                            |            |                           | 192      | 707            | 57     | 454                 | 301                    | 482                      | 21           |
| Agriculture, forestry, fishing, and hunting      | 11         | 543                       | 48       | 265            | 16     | 30                  | 35                     | 143                      | 6            |
| Mining, quarrying, and oil and gas extraction    | 21         | 135                       | 7        | 68             | 12     | 2 (P)               | 8                      | 34                       | 4 (S)        |
| Utilities                                        | 22         | 19 (S)                    | 1 (X)    | 5 (X)          | 1 (X)  | 6 (X)               | 2 (X)                  | 4 (X)                    | 0 (X)        |
| Construction                                     | 23         | 1,103                     | 70       | 249            | 18     | 352                 | 200                    | 205                      | 9            |
| Manufacturing                                    | 31-33      | 320                       | 38 (S)   | 79             | 10 (S) | 51                  | 48                     | 94                       | 0 (X)        |
| Professional, Scientific, and Technical Services | 54         | 92                        | 27       | 41 (S)         | 0 (X)  | 12                  | 8 (S)                  | 2 (S)                    | 2 (S)        |
| Management of Companies and Enterprises          | 55         | 2 (P)                     | 1 (X)    | 0 (X)          | 0 (X)  | 1 (X)               | 0 (X)                  | 0(X)                     | 0 (X)        |

‹#› — U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics • bls.gov

End result

Original goal was to produce all combinations of all variables

Estimated it would take about 6 months to complete all of the computation

Instead, focused on all estimates that can be turned into LABSTAT codes for publication

76% of LABSTAT matched to hypercube

24% publishable after suppressions

‹#› — U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics • bls.gov

Are there other options for protecting CFOI?

One method being used more frequently for disclosure limitation is differential privacy

Because of the small number of fatalities and the number of them that are public, differential privacy would require a huge amount of noise to be protected

A simple attempt at adding noise to tabular data resulted in significant problems

‹#› — U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics • bls.gov

CFOI with noise added

Some results from my attempt to add noise to 2018 data:

-8 fatalities in NAICS 3259 (Other chemical product and preparation manufacturing)

Fatalities in NAICS 325 (Chemical manufacturing) dropped from 18 to 9

Industries with 0 fatalities have up to 5 fatalities with the noise added

‹#› — U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics • bls.gov

Current work

Adding estimates at additional levels of detail

Determining if there are some additional estimates that can be released without increasing risk

Matching more files to LABSTAT

Testing our success at protecting our data

BLS had a Civic Digital Fellow spend the summer attempting to reconstruct CFOI microdata from our publicly released data

‹#› — U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics • bls.gov

Ellen Galantucci

Research Mathematical Statistician

Office of Compensation and Working Conditions

Bureau of Labor Statistics

galantucci.ellen@bls.gov

Contact Information

‹#› — U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics • bls.gov

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