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Open Government Plan 

Version 4.0

September 2016
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September 2016

At the U.S. Department of Labor we work every day to help people get the skills they need to 

succeed in good jobs that pay a fair wage; to ensure that workplaces are safe and free from 

discrimination; and that people have the chance to retire with dignity. This work matters, and so 

does doing it well.

Transparency, collaboration, and participation are all crucial ingredients in ensuring that the 

rungs on the ladder of opportunity remain in reach for every American.

Opportunity means engaging with more people more often. Opportunity means making it easier 

for the public to learn about, understand, and access our invaluable resources. Opportunity means 

using our crucial resources to spur innovation at all levels of government and with all manner of 

stakeholders. Opportunity means using our own data to drive decision making, and encouraging 

others to go where we can’t.

This document outlines a number of important steps that the department has already taken to 

utilize the principles of open government to live up to the promise of our mission as well as 

important next steps to continue our trajectory toward a more transparent, participatory, and 

collaboration-centric agency.

Since we launched our initial open government plan in April of 2010, we have seen significant 

progress in a number of important areas. Our Application program interface had been 

continuously improved and in FY 2016, we released an open source version of our API software, 

called Quarry, that can be used or improved by anyone. For FY 2017, we’re planning to move 

forward by implementing tools that provide for quick data visualization on our public websites. 

In the spirit of collaboration, we invite feedback on this plan and will continue to update this 

document to reflect those conversations. Please look for posts on the DOL Blog for an 

opportunity to provide this crucial feedback.
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Table of Contents

Pages

1. New and Expanded Initiatives............................................................................................................................4

1.1. Open Data..................................................................................................................................................4

1.2. Proactive Disclosures................................................................................................................................5

1.3. Privacy.......................................................................................................................................................8

1.4. Whistleblower Protection ........................................................................................................................8

1.5. Websites.....................................................................................................................................................9

1.6. Open Innovation Methods .......................................................................................................................9

1.7. Access to Scientific Data and Publications.............................................................................................9

1.8. Open Source Software............................................................................................................................10

1.9. Spending Information ............................................................................................................................10

1.10. Other Initiatives......................................................................................................................................11

2. Ongoing Initiatives ............................................................................................................................................15

2.1. Participation in Transparency Initiatives ............................................................................................15

2.2. Public Notice ...........................................................................................................................................16

2.3. Records Management.............................................................................................................................18

2.4. Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) Requests....................................................................................18

2.5. Congressional Requests..........................................................................................................................22

2.6. Declassification .......................................................................................................................................22

2.7. Public Participation................................................................................................................................22

2.8. Collaboration ..........................................................................................................................................24

2.9. Flagship Initiative...................................................................................................................................24
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1. New and Expanded Initiatives

1.1. Open Data

DOL Datasets and the API

The Office of Public Affairs continues to work with other Department of Labor agencies to release valuable 

data to the public, including data from the Wage and Hour Division as well as the annual reports from the 

Bureau of International Labor Affairs published as machine-readable datasets, the latter of which is being 

expanded. The department’s API is undergoing some improvements, with a “write” pilot – allowing data to 

be written to the API rather than just retrieved from it - that is planned for the first quarter of FY 2017, the 

same time we will begin an evaluation toward simplifying the administration of our centralized API, either 

through new in-house software or the use of a third-party service. The department participated in the open 

data user engagement workshop series and will be implementing what was learned to supplement the 

current user engagement channels: webmaster email, GitHub and Stack Exchange.

MSHA Data Sources

The Mine Safety and Health Administration gathers current and historical data from several MSHA 

databases and provides mine-by-mine data for a broad range of mine safety and health topics, including 

information about mine inspections, accidents, injuries, illnesses, violations, employment, production totals, 

air sampling and more for all coal and metal/nonmetal mines and contractors in the United States, Puerto 

Rico, and the Virgin Islands.

 Mine Data Retrieval System. Mine operators, miners, stakeholders and the public can access 

violation, accident and inspection data for any mine or contractor.

 Mine Safety and Health At a Glance. MSHA’s Mine Safety and Health At a Glance website, which 

is updated biannually for the most recent seven calendar year period, provides data on mining 

fatalities, injuries, employment, production, violation, assessment and contractors. 

MSHA Datasets

The Mine Safety and Health Administration provides text delimited data sets as part of the Open 

Government Initiative. Datasets cover a wide array of topics including accident and injury data, air 

sampling data, employment data, and many others.

 Part 50 Data. Part 50 of Title 30 of the Code of Federal Regulation requires mine operators to 

immediately notify MSHA of accidents, requires operators to investigate accidents, and restricts 

disturbance of accident-related areas. This part also requires operators to file reports with MSHA 

pertaining to accidents, occupational injuries and occupational illnesses, as well as employment and 

coal production data. The Part 50 self-extracting files contain the raw data collected from MSHA 

Form 7000-1 Mine Accident, Injury and Illness Report. 
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 Department of Labor Enforcement Data 2.5. This dataset allows users to access, search, and 

visualize MSHA enforcement data using an interactive interface. Enforcement Data 2.5 contains 

data related to accidents, inspections, violations, and penalties, in addition to employment and 

production data.

 Data.gov. The U.S. Government’s open data home page contains thousands of data sets on a broad 

safety and health in mining topics.

MSHA’s Compliance Tools

The Mine Safety and Health Administration has developed online compliance tools that allow the public to 

monitor a mine’s compliance with key safety and health standards. These compliance tools access a broad 

range of mine safety and health data including information about mine inspections, accidents, injuries, 

illnesses, violations, employment, production totals, air sampling and more. These tools include:

 Rules to Live By Calculator. Beginning in February 2010, MSHA began launching the “Rules to 

Live By” safety and health initiative. With updates to the initiative, RTLB now focuses on 49 

health and safety standards most often associated with fatal mining accidents and serious injuries 

and illnesses. This calculator gives miners, mine operators, MSHA and the public the ability to 

monitor any mine’s compliance with the Rules to Live By standards.

 Significant and Substantial (S&S) Rate Calculator. An S&S designation indicates that an 

underlying safety or health hazard is likely to result in a serious injury or illness. Over the years, 

MSHA has studied its data to determine the common causes of injuries, illnesses, and fatalities. It is 

evident that the violations of a small number of health and safety standards are responsible for the 

majority of fatalities and serious injuries and illnesses. This tool shows the rate of S&S citations 

and orders per 100 inspection hours during a certain time period.

 Monthly Monitoring Tool for Pattern of Violations (POV). Mine operators, as well as the general 

public, can determine whether a mine may be subject to a POV notice by using this online tool. The 

tool provides a comparison of a mine's enforcement and injury data against the four POV screening 

criteria.

 Key Underground Coal Standards (Part 75) Calculator. This tool calculates a mine's violation rate 

for 9 key health and safety standards for underground coal mines, as identified in MSHA’s Part 75 

Exam Rule requiring examinations and recordkeeping by mine operators. The standards address 

ventilation, methane, roof control, combustible materials, rock dust, guarding, and other safeguards.

1.2. Proactive Disclosures

MSHA Backlog Reduction

The Mine Safety and Health Administration continues to proactively identify records that may generate 

public interest and publishes these records on its website. The volume of materials posted on the agency’s 

website has led to a 40 percent reduction in the backlog of pending FOIA requests since FY 2014. This 

effort includes MSHA’s posting of Office of Accountability Audit reports on MSHA’s enforcement 

activities.
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Easier Paths to Information

In February 2016, the department added new features to its news release listings, allowing website visitors 

to filter news releases by date, agency or topic, making it easy to locate the latest high-profile enforcement 

actions, opportunities to comment on departmental actions or other information from the department. 

Describe agency plans to proactively disclose information. 

Improving Timeliness and Reducing Backlogs 

On average, DOL processed simple requests within 26.4 working days during FY 2015. During the same 

time, the Department experienced an increase from 561 backlogged initial FOIA requests pending at the 

end of FY2014, up to 593 backlogged pending as of the end of FY2015. 

DOL experienced an increase from 316 backlogged administrative appeals pending at the end of FY2014, 

up to 405 backlogged pending as of the end of FY2015. While the Department completed more FOIA 

appeals in FY2015 than in FY2014 (297 vs. 277 in FY2014), the backlog nonetheless rose due to the 

continuing high number of incoming FOIA appeals (404 received during FY 2015). 

Of the oldest FOIA requests reported in the FY2014 Annual Report, nine of the ten were closed by the end 

of FY2015. 

DOL continues to work with agency components to improve timeliness and reduced the number of FOIA 

Requests that are backlogged.

Utilizing Interim Response:

OIS issued Best Practices guidance in September 2013 encouraging agency components to make interim 

responses to extremely large and/or complex cases. 

Increasing Proactive Disclosures 

Due to the decentralized nature of the Department's FOIA program, processes and systems to identify 

records for proactive disclosure vary. Most of the agencies within the Department actively post and update 

materials in their electronic reading rooms. This practice is in addition to the collaborative work of DOL 

agency components with the Department's Open Government initiatives. Most components actively looks 

for ways to expand the information posted to their public facing web sites to better serve the public and 

ultimately reduce the public's need to file FOIA requests generally, but specifically requests seeking the 

same materials. In addition, the Office of Information Services continues to educate DOL FOIA 

professionals on ways in which to make records publicly available without waiting for a request for access 

under FOIA. OIS has encouraged FOIA professionals to work closely with agency IT personnel to explore 

and examine methods to proactively disclose information of their agency’s websites. Components are 

briefed on the importance of identifying frequently requested records. DOL guidance is that lead FOIA 

Coordinators and FOIA staff should monitor incoming FOIA requests to identify records that are frequently 

requested. When requests for particular records/data sets become frequent, they are brought to the attention 

of the FOIA Coordinator to determine whether the records should be posted online. 
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In accordance with the provisions of the amended statute, DOL is now mandated to proactively disclose 

records that have been disclosed already and are requested three or more times (“rule of 3”). Consistent 

with the statute, we will continue to look for ways to make additional information available to the public. 

Each agency component’s FOIA library can be accessed at https://www.dol.gov/general/foia. 

Examples of materials made proactively:

 DOL's Employee Benefits Security Administration (EBSA) is proactively posting online the full 

data set of Form 5500 data, information which previously was only available through request.

 The Mine Safety Health Administration (MSHA) and the Occupational Safety and Health 

Administration (OSHA) are posting accident investigation information, program or enforcement 

statistics, inspection and violation history, safety and health legislation and regulations. MSHA also 

posts accident investigation reports and a listing of mine addresses in advance of FOIA requests.

 The Office of Congressional and Intergovernmental Affairs (OCIA) posts grant and Congressional 

information (including Congressional testimonies and notifications).

 OSHA posts weekly fatality reports; chemical exposure health data; employment specific injury 

and illness rates; worker fatality reports; and fatality and catastrophic investigation summaries.

 The Office of Workers' Compensation Programs (OWCP) posts notices of proposed rule making 

changes, publication updates, Energy Employees Occupational Illness Compensation Program 

(EEOICPA) Part B and Part E data statistics, Defense Base Act casualty statistics and Industry 

Report Cards showing insurance carrier timeliness results.

 The Office of Labor Management Standards (OLMS) posts Compliance Audit Program and 

International-Compliance Audit Program closing letters; Assistant Secretary decisions and orders in 

Civil Service Reform Act of 1978 (CSRA) cases; Form LM-2 Hardship Determinations; Transit 

Employee Protection determinations; and election and trusteeship case decisions.

 The Wage and Hour Division (WHD) posts the Registered Farm Labor Contractor Certification list. 

This list contains the name and physical address of all current certificate holders, as well as the 

expiration date and the certificate number generated by WHD. This list also indicates if a contractor 

has been authorized to house workers, to use vehicles to transport workers, or to drive such 

vehicles.

 The Office of Administrative Law Judges (OALJ) posts all final ALJ decisions within one business 

day of issuance (except for Longshore decisions, which are held for five business days before 

posting to accommodate the regulatory requirement that OWCP rather than OALJ serve such 

decisions).

 The Employment and Training Administration (ETA) Office of Trade Adjustment Assistance 

(OTAA) began the process of redacting all incoming petitions for trade adjustment assistance 

(TAA) eligibility. This process enables OTAA to proactively disclose TAA petitions and make 

them available to the public via the OTAA website: (http://www.doleta.gov/tradeact).

 ETA’s Office of National Response publishes National Emergency Grants (NEG) application tools 

and NEG award information.

ETA’s Office of Foreign Labor Certification (OFLC) has redesigned its website to include the posting of 

several fact sheets, filing tips and an H-2A Employer Handbook, which contains a summary of process and 

tips to assist employers seeking agricultural workers through the H-2A temporary agricultural program. 
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OFLC also actively coordinates with the DOL Open Government team by providing a link to OFLC 

Performance Data page that provides data sets for each program area (PERM program, H-2A, H-2B, H-1B) 

for the past five years. The OFLC main page includes an Annual Report and map that provides pertinent 

state-level data on foreign labor certification applications requested, processed and certified, as well as 

information on occupations for which employers sought foreign workers, and the wages paid.

1.3. Privacy

The department is committed to making privacy information from the department easy to locate. We 

created a single page for privacy information at https://www.dol.gov/general/privacy that currently includes 

Privacy Impact Assessments (PIAs), System of Records Notices (SORNs), the website privacy notice and 

information about the department’s leadership. The page will be expanded by December 2016 to include 

specific privacy points of contact and additional reports and policies. 

1.4. Whistleblower Protection

Miner Safety

The Mine Safety and Health Administration works to ensure that all miners have the right to a safe 

workplace, and the right to identify hazardous conditions and refuse unsafe work without fear of 

discrimination or retaliation. In 2015, MSHA filed 49 complaints – more than in any previous year, on

behalf of miners. These complaints, filed with the Federal Mine Safety and Health Review Commission, 

involved allegations of discrimination made by miners and miners’ representatives in the form of a 

discharge, suspension or other adverse action. Additionally, MSHA filed 45 complaints in 2014 requesting 

temporary reinstatement of miners, the second highest number ever filed. Section 105(c) of the Federal 

Mine Safety and Health Act of 1977 states a miner cannot be discharged, discriminated against or interfered 

with in the exercise of statutory rights because he or she has engaged in a protected activity such as filing a 

complaint alleging a health or safety violation, or refusing to work under unsafe or unhealthy conditions. 

MSHA has also expanded its efforts to educate miners about their rights under the Mine Act. A Guide to 

Miners’ Rights and Responsibilities Under the Federal Mine Safety and Health Act of 1977, posted on its 

web site affirms that miners may not be fired, demoted, harassed, intimidated, transferred, refused 

employment, suffer any loss of wages, or discriminated against for exercising their rights under the Mine 

Act. MSHA also provides links to additional information on miners' rights, an electronic form for filing an 

anonymous hazard complaint, a discrimination complaint packet, and black lung benefits and resources. 

MSHA’s web site also provides a collection of online videos that address miners' concerns about unsafe 

conditions at the workplace, how to refuse unsafe work, the role of miners' representatives who travel with 

federal inspectors, and knowing your rights and responsibilities.

Office of Special Counsel Certification

The department was initially certified as a participant in Office of Special Counsel’s Whistleblower 

Protection Act certification program in November 2010. That certification was allowed to lapse in 2013. 

The department is actively engaged in the recertification process. The department posts the required notices 

throughout DOL facilities and communicates regularly with staff about whistleblowing, whistleblower 

retaliation, and prohibited personnel practices. Additional information about whistleblower protections for 
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DOL employees is available through the Whistle Blower Protection Ombudsman online at 

http://www.oig.dol.gov/whistleblower-ombudsman.htm. 

1.5. Websites

Analytics.usa.gov

The department participates fully in the Analytics.usa.gov program, with all public websites correctly 

tagged for data gathering and with wide use among the department’s personnel. 

Digital Governance Plan

The department’s digital governance strategy, including information about the department’s efforts to 

improve digital governance, can be found at https://www.dol.gov/digital-strategy/. 

1.6. Open Innovation Methods

Innovation Council 

The department created an Innovation Council to sustain and build upon our innovation work, including but 

not limited to IdeaMill – the department’s ideation platform. The Council will drive forward new ideas and 

new ways of looking at existing ideas to create more effective process, products, services, technologies, or 

business models. Along with serving as an advisory group to the Secretary of Labor, its goals are to: 

 coordinate, maximize, and scale agency approaches,

 identify, promote, and reward innovation, and

 develop solutions to overcome barriers to innovation. 

The Innovation Council will be made up of DOL employees who are experts in HR, IT, policy, programs, 

communications, budget, or procurement, have decision-making authority, and are committed to devoting 

the necessary time to bring about meaningful change. 

Through the Council, the department also has access to the tools that make up the building blocks of 

innovative thinking including trainings on human centered design and lean start-up. 

1.7. Access to Scientific Data and Publications

Expanding access to evidence on what works

The department is committed to conducting high-quality independent evaluations and research, and to 

institutionalizing an evidence-based culture. Evaluation results and products are disseminated in various 

formats appropriate to practitioners, evaluators and policymakers. The DOL Chief Evaluation Office

coordinates the department’s evaluation agenda, including designing, initiating and carrying out rigorous 

and credible evaluations to accumulate evidence on the performance, outcomes and impacts of DOL 

programs. The department’s evaluation plan is based on learning agendas developed by all DOL agencies as 

well as on input from stakeholders and the general public (the preliminary plan is publicly announced in the 

Federal Register and on the CEO website https://www.dol.gov/asp/evaluation/# ).
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The results of evaluations inform programs and policy, advance the priorities of the Secretary and the 

mission of the department, and complement DOL’s performance program of communication and 

networking with labor research organizations and professionals in government, academia, foundations, the 

research sector and labor organizations to ensure that the department is aware of the universe of relevant 

research and evaluation findings and activities. One of the main responsibilities of the CEO is to maintain 

an active and current system for communicating the results of evaluations, including those sponsored by 

DOL and other relevant evidence-based research.

At any given time, about 50 studies are underway through CEO, either under contracts or grants. All current 

contracts and studies and all evaluation reports are released and publicly posted on the CEO website under 

“Studies” at the website linked above.

Large scale evaluations and surveys routinely include public use data files along with the programming 

documentation that allows outside analysts to use or replicate the analysis in evaluation reports. The public 

use files are available through the CEO website at https://www.dol.gov/asp/evaluation/PublicUseData.htm.

In addition to publicly disseminating all DOL sponsored evaluation results and making evaluation data files 

publicly available, CEO also maintains the evidence-based Clearinghouse for Labor Evaluation and 

Research (CLEAR) (http://clear.dol.gov/). CLEAR was developed in 2012 as a central source of research 

and evaluations on labor-related topics, whether sponsored by DOL or otherwise conducted. The public 

internet based clearinghouse continues to expand. CLEAR’s primary goal is to make labor research more 

accessible to the public, to DOL administrators, program practitioners, policymakers and researchers so that 

it can inform decisions about policies and programs. CLEAR does this by conducting systematic evidence 

reviews on labor related issues, including studies funded by DOL and other studies with published reports, 

and summarizing methodologies, findings and policy/program implications. Those estimating causal impact 

are also rated according to the strength of the evidence they produced and whether the findings are positive. 

CEO also uses CLEAR to communicate and publicly post guidelines for high-quality evaluation 

methodology.

1.8. Open Source Software

The department has posted code to GitHub for a few years, including software development kits and full 

software. The department’s commitment to open source continues and will play a significant role in the 

support of the Open Source Policy that was released in Fiscal Year 2016.

1.9. Spending Information

With the onset of new reporting requirements under the Digital Accountability and Transparency Act of 

2014 (DATA Act), we have the opportunity to expand data-driven decision-making to further inform our 

Federal spending efforts.

Consistent with the Administration's efforts to increase transparency, achieve cost savings, and create a 

more data-driven government, the DATA Act directs the Department to increase the availability, 

accuracy, and usefulness of Federal spending information. The Department seeks to improve the 

effectiveness of our resources through increased transparency and use of Federal spending data. By 
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making Federal spending data more accessible, searchable, and reliable, and joining this information with 

other third party data sources, Federal agencies and taxpayers have an opportunity to better understand the 

impact of DOL funds and improve the lives of the American public.

The Department has deployed efforts and begun testing to ensure compliance and is certain that we are on

track to meet the DATA Act implementation requirements by May 2017. 

1.10. Other Initiatives

Facilitating Submission of Claims and Information for Work-Related Injury and Illness

In 2012, the Office of Workers’ Compensation Programs implemented the Employees’ Compensation 

Operations and Management Portal, a free, web-based application. ECOMP allows electronic submission of 

claims by federal employees for injury, illness and wage loss under the Federal Employees’ Compensation 

Act, as well as injury and illness reports required by the Occupational Safety and Health Administration. 

ECOMP also allows electronic submission of documents to OWCP case files by all stakeholders involved 

in the claims process, including injured workers, representatives, medical providers and federal agencies. 

Electronic submission of forms and documents greatly improves the efficiency of the claims process and 

agencies that have begun using ECOMP have seen a marked improvement in the timeliness of claim 

submission. The earlier OWCP receives a claim, the sooner it may begin assisting an injured worker. 

ECOMP also promotes transparency in the claim filing process, as an injured worker is provided with a 

tracking number once a form is filed, which can be used to monitor the filing process of a claim as it moves 

through the employing agency until it reaches OWCP. Additionally, ECOMP improves transparency 

between OWCP and federal agencies, as certain agency users may remotely view their injured workers’ 

OWCP case files through the application. ECOMP also allows federal agency users to independently run 

real-time reports on claim submission timeliness, injury and illness trends, and OSHA safety logs. 

To date a large number of federal agencies, including the Department of Defense, the Department of 

Justice, the Department of Transportation and the Department of Veterans Affairs, have enrolled to use the 

system and the application has been very well received. OWCP continues to support and enhance ECOMP, 

which has become an indispensable tool in the FECA claims process.

The ECOMP application is powered by Adobe LiveCycle software. Adobe has cited ECOMP as a success 

story and an example of the way that federal customers may effectively use its software to develop digital 

platforms to improve efficiency in government operations. Additional information on how ECOMP has 

enhanced the FECA claims process is available on the Adobe website at: 

http://www.adobe.com/content/dam/Adobe/en/customer-success/pdfs/usdl-case-study.pdf and more 

information is available at http://blogs.adobe.com/adobeingovernment/u-s-dept-of-labor-partners-withadobe-to-expedite-medical-claims-processing-for-federal-workers/. 

Electronic Filing for Longshore Case Files

Since FY 2015, DLHWC’s stakeholders (claimants, employers, insurance carrier representatives, plaintiff 

and defense attorneys, medical providers, etc.) have been able to file most forms and supporting 

documentation electronically through the Secure Electronic Access Portal (SEAPortal). The SEAPortal is a 
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web-based application that allows documents to be uploaded directly into Longshore case files for 

immediate delivery to the staff, eliminating the time lag inherent in submitting documents via mail. By 

accelerating the delivery of documents to the Longshore staff, the claims examiners are able to intervene in 

cases faster to assist with resolution of outstanding issues. 

Energy Document Portal (EDP)

The Office of Workers’ Compensation Programs, Division of Energy Employees Occupational Illness 

Compensation Programs’ mission is protect the interests of workers who were injured or became ill on the 

job, or their families, by making timely, appropriate and accurate decisions on claims and providing prompt 

payment of benefits to eligible claimants. DEEOIC realized that the time it took for stakeholders to mail 

documents had a direct impact on the length of time it took for their cases to be adjudicated. To assist 

claimants and stakeholders, DEEOIC created the Energy Document Portal (EDP). EDP allows stakeholders 

to upload documents such as forms, employment documentation, medical reports, adjudication documents, 

as well as other documents related to a claim, to active Energy cases. 

This improvement provides stakeholders with many benefits such as increased timeliness getting documents 

into their case file, increased customer service, elimination of lost mail and a mechanism to track and verify 

that the document submitted via EDP was received by DEEOIC. When documents can be added to case 

files faster, adjudicated times decrease and benefits can be administered earlier. 

Claimant Status Page

The Division of Energy Employees Occupational Illness Compensation has an online web-based page, the 

Claimant Status Page, which allows claimants and/or their authorized representative access to limited 

claims information from our electronic claims database as utilized by DEEOIC claim examiners. The 

Claimant Status Page allows claimants to access certain information contained in his or her claim under the 

Energy Employees Occupational Illness Compensation Program. The Claimant Status Page makes 

information available online to claimants regarding their claimed medical conditions, worksite locations, 

most recent claim action, payment information and current case location. Claimants under the EEOICP are 

provided with an individual claim identification number to gain access to their claim information and to 

prevent the access by other individuals to a claimant’s specific claim information. 

This improvement provides claimants with information that was previously only available to them via 

conversations with claims examiners at the district office or by requesting a copy of their case files. Giving 

claimants access to this information allows them to track their case, payment information, and/or accepted 

medical condition in real time. 

Black Lung Claimant Online Access Portal

In September of 2015, the Division of Coal Mine Workers’ Compensation Program made available to the 

public the C.O.A.L. Mine (Claimant Online Access Link) web portal. This point of access for the public 

enables the uploading of claim documents directly to the OWCP Imaging System, which in turn allows for 

almost instantaneous viewing by a claims examiner. Upon submission of the document(s) to the portal, the 

public user receives a document control number which can be used to confirm receipt by the system that the 

document submitted has been received. This technological improvement has allowed for at least a three-day 

decrease in processing times for documents sent to claims examiners by miners, their representatives, 
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physician’s offices, Black Lung clinics or attorneys in relation to the claim. To date, the public has 

submitted over 49,000 pages through the web portal which did not have to be printed or mailed, saving the 

Department, miners and other parties to the claim time and money. This has translated into higher 

productivity for claims examiners as the wait time for documents through regular mail has been greatly 

shortened. In turn, customer service increased by providing the claims examiner with the ability to view 

documents as they are submitted through OIS in real time, allowing for faster decisions on claims once all 

necessary information is received. The implementation of the web portal has also allowed for even more 

integration of remote access and teleworking opportunities by claims examiners, further incorporating 

continuity of operations and services for claimants across the nation. 

Transparency in Proposed Rulemaking

The Employee Benefits Security Administration encourages public involvement in ongoing rulemaking. In 

addition to posting public comments and related materials including Regulatory Impact Analyses, EBSA 

streams video of public hearings on high profile rulemaking to allow interested members of the public to 

participate without having to travel to Washington, DC for the hearing. On one high level rulemaking 

project, the hearing was several days, which also saved those members of the public the cost of travel. 

EBSA also held a webcast to help provide an overview of a comprehensive proposed rulemaking to 

increase awareness and understanding of the agency’s effort to modernize a key reporting document filed 

by over a million plans. The videos of the public hearing and the webcast archive were then posted on 

EBSA’s website for those unable to view the events live or who wanted to view it again. Many visitors 

noted they wanted this capability as the events provided an extensive amount of information. A recent 

EBSA website reorganization included a new section on rulemaking that is open for comment to help the 

public easily find opportunities for them to participate. 

Interagency Cooperation

The Employee Benefits Security Administration’s mission involves extensive coordination with other 

federal agencies. To provide greater access to the related information for its partner agencies, EBSA posts 

these items on its website and sends emails to its website subscribers. This includes news releases on 

criminal enforcement cases litigated by the Department of Justice in which EBSA participated, as well as 

opportunities for public participation on Affordable Care Act implementation carried out by the Department 

of Health and Human Services. 

Improving Transparency and Efficiency in the Labor Certification Process

Inundated with Freedom of Information Act requests for information on labor certification applications, the 

Employment and Training Administration’s Office of Foreign Labor Certification began to realize that 

responding to requests was having a negative impact on the overall administration of these programs. 

Although the requested data was already contained within the office’s case processing systems, it was not 

available to the public. OFLC then created the iCERT Labor Certification Registry, a web-based single 

point of access for the public to search for and retrieve copies of labor certification documents. Since it was 

launched, OFLC has made available for public examination more than 500,000 records of certification 

documents each year. In addition, since implementation of electronic case filing systems in late calendar 

year 2012, more than 78 percent of H-2A employers and approximately 93 percent of H-2B employers are 

submitting applications and receiving decisions from the Department electronically. Finally, the new 
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technology has allowed OFLC staff to process to process certification applications remotely through a 

formal telework program, which led to higher productivity and increased continuity of operations during 

severe weather events.

Open Grantmaking Initiative

The department launched the Open Grantmaking Initiative in September 2011, providing a central online 

location for the public to learn about and learn from the DOL’s competitive grant programs. Not only can 

users access an assortment of financial and programmatic information on funded grants, the website also 

links prospective applicants to tools and resources needed to craft a competitive grant application. Perhaps 

most importantly, the site allows the public to search, view and download abstracts of all grant applications 

for the Department's discretionary grant programs. The publication of such information was made possible 

by the inclusion of specific template language in all grant solicitations letting prospective grantees know 

about these requirements. Making the grant abstracts available has allowed prospective grantees to learn 

from one another and removed any perception that “insider” knowledge of the grant process is required for 

successful applicants. 

In addition, the department also has required that all education materials developed through the following 

grant programs be made available for re-use through a Creative Commons license: the nearly $2 billion 

Trade Adjustment Assistance Community College and Career Training (TAACCCT) grants, the Workforce 

Innovation Fund, and a number of grants funded through the fees collected through the H-1B temporary 

foreign labor program. These requirements are in place to ensure that federal investments have as broad an 

impact as possible and to encourage innovation in the development of new learning materials. This license 

allows subsequent users to copy, distribute, transmit and adapt the copyrighted work and requires such users 

to attribute the work in the manner specified by the grantee. 

The requirements go even a step further, mandating that all computer software source code developed or 

created with these funds be released under an intellectual property license that allows others to use and 

build upon them. Specifically, the grantee will release all new source code developed or created with grant 

funds under an open license acceptable to either the Free Software Foundation and/or the Open Source 

Initiative. 

Prior to the launch of the Open Grantmaking Initative, grant abstracts and technical proposals were among 

the most requested ETA items through the FOIA process. FOIA personnel worked to ensure that all 

proprietary information within the technical proposals was protected or properly waived. From FY 2013 to 

FY 2014, this initiative reduced incoming requests received by ETA from 114 to 77. Excluding improper 

FOIA requests, the decrease of actionable FOIA requests went from 86 down to 45, a nearly 50% reduction. 

In the past year the department has applied similar transparency requirements to all its competitive grant 

programs, however, with the implementation of the Data Act in 2017, the transparency language and 

requirements in Funding Opportunity Announcements will be adjusted. In addition, in 2015 the department 

launched a central repository for all of the Open Educational Resources developed through the TAACCCT 

grant program, found at https://www.skillscommons.org/. To date, the repository grantees have posted more 

than 6,500 educational resources, and users have downloaded more than 100,000 resources. TAACCCT 

grantees will continue to post materials through 2018, and outreach to encourage widespread use of the 

resources will be expanded. 
15

2. Ongoing Initiatives

2.1. Participation in Transparency Initiatives

Grants.gov and DOL’s Grant Program Information System

The department actively uses Grants.gov to promote open funding opportunities and manage the application 

process for competitive grants. DOL’s Grant Program Information System (GPI) includes an internal 

Administrative Database, which helps DOL employees respond quickly to inquiries on grant awards, and a 

public Grant Application and Award Database, which provides information on applicants for DOL 

competitive grants and allows DOL to promote and share innovative ideas. The GPI helps agencies meet 

their open-government requirements by posting grantee information, including winning redacted technical 

proposals. 

eRulemaking 

DOL was one of the initial partners in the eRulemaking initiative and all of our regulatory steps seeking 

public input (e.g., Requests for Information, Advance Notices of Proposed Rulemakings, Notices of 

Proposed Rulemakings, and Interim Final Rulemakings) are posted on Regulations.gov for comment. This 

allows the public to search and view any federal agency's rulemaking dockets. Previously, a person would 

have to visit each agency to inspect or make copies of docket materials (i.e., the rule, supporting 

studies/documents, all public comments received on the rule) — now this can be done though one portal. 

This also allows for cross-agency searches to see what any federal agency is doing with respect to a 

particular topic. 

A number of DOL agencies have also effectively used www.regulations.gov for non-rulemaking Federal 

Register notices. The department's Bureau of International Labor Affairs regularly utilizes the site to solicit 

broad input from stakeholders around the world. Whether it is to gather information about goods from 

countries produced by child labor or forced labor under the Trafficking Victims Protection Reauthorization 

Act of 2005, information about efforts by countries to eliminate the worst forms of child labor, or its 

procedural guidelines for implementing its monitoring responsibilities, ILAB posts information gathering 

efforts on the regulations.gov portal. 

ILAB has also utilized the www.regulations.gov tool to gather information on best practices to eradicate 

child labor and forced labor as part of its overall research under its TVPRA responsibilities. This has 

provided an effective means to collect substantive comments in a manner that is fully open and accessible to 

the public. Those who wish to make comments can readily see the input of other stakeholders and provide 

relevant information. ILAB strives to conduct its international work in as transparent and open manner as 

possible, and publishing its notices requesting information or feedback on regulations.gov is an integral part 

of this process. 

In addition to actively participating in www.regulations.gov, we also created a landing page within our own 

website to provide visitors with a one-stop source for comprehensive information about our current and 

proposed regulatory actions: www.dol.gov/regulations/. This site provides videos explaining the impact of 

proposed regulations as well as listing the current and upcoming opportunities to provide comments, and 

the transcripts from our extensive regulatory web chats. 
16

Some DOL agencies, such as the Employee Benefits Security Administration, post the public comments on 

the agency website in an effort to improve accessibility for the broader public. The comments are posted 

with links to the Federal Register documents (RFI’s, proposed rules, interim final rules requesting 

comment) as well as testimony from public hearings, if held. Many of the regulations have had a lot of 

public interest with thousands of comments submitted. The index of the comments posted allows visitors to 

see who commented and then read those comments they wish to read. For rulemaking initiatives with a high 

level of public interest, EBSA sets up dedicated pages that include the regulatory impact analysis and 

related research and hearing transcripts (and even video) as well as the information noted above. EBSA 

links the dedicated pages for the various stages of the rulemaking to help visitors follow the process.

Data.gov

Since the outset, the Office of the Chief Information Officer has been working closely with agencies 

throughout the department to publish datasets on Data.gov. The Bureau of Labor Statistics contributed 34 

initial data sets for the launch of data.gov. The department currently makes 396 datasets available through 

data.gov.

IT Dashboard 

The IT Dashboard enables federal agencies and the general public to view details of federal 

information technology investments and track spending, performance, and progress of technology 

investments over time. 

The performance of each of our major IT investments is rated on three factors: cost, schedule, and a 

CIO rating. Each month the DOL program office provides an update of the investment's actual costs, as 

well as actual accomplishments of the program's activities for that month. These two factors are 

compared against the planned activities for that month when the investment first began. The variance is 

then an indicator of how well the investment is achieving its performance goals at that point of its 

development. The third factor, the CIO assessment of the program, is primarily based on a risk 

assessment associated with the investment achieving its intended results. 

Integrating Federal IT Dashboard with DOL IT 

We have embraced this transparency program since its inception and have had a long standing 

quarterly control review process for all of our major IT investments. Since the announcement of the IT 

Dashboard, we have integrated the associated requirements of the IT Dashboard with our program 

reviews and other IT governance processes. The CIO ratings are applied each month, and the entire 

process is managed by the Office of the Chief Information Officer resulting in timely updates with data 

quality reviews that results in an accurate portrayal of DOL's IT investments.

2.2. Public Notice

The department actively supports providing the public with clear notice about upcoming events, 

opportunities to comment on proposed regulations, and all other opportunities to engage and participate in 

the process of meeting our mission. Below are some of the ways that the department notifies the public of 

opportunities to engage along with examples of this engagement in action. 
17

Actions to Address Metal and Nonmetal Fatalities

The Mine Safety and Health Administration’s efforts to reverse the increase in mining deaths from 30 in 

2014 to an historic low of 3 deaths during a seven-month period from August 2015 through February 2016 

have been due MSHA’s safety initiatives such as the “Rules to Live By” safety and health initiative that 

highlight mining conditions most likely to claim a miner’s life. MSHA continues to work with the mining 

community to increase outreach efforts and share information on best practices to prevent accidents and 

fatalities. MSHA has hosted a series of stakeholder meetings, a roundtable discussion with industry and 

labor representatives, and MSHA senior officials have participated in industry forums to raise safety 

awareness. MSHA’s website contains a specific section on safety and health topics for metal and nonmetal 

mines, including best practices and its initiatives to improve the safety and health of metal and nonmetal 

miners.

Implementation of MSHA’s Respirable Coal Mine Dust Final Rule

Since the Mine Safety and Health Administration published its historic rulemaking on respirable coal mine 

dust on May 1, 2014, which it rolled out in three distinct phases so that mine operators were able to comply 

with it, the agency has engaged the mining community by holding a series of field seminars and stakeholder 

meetings in coal mining regions to provide a comprehensive review of the new requirements of the final 

rule. During these regional visits, MSHA also offered to assist mine operators comply with the rule. 

MSHA’s outreach and compliance assistance materials are available on MSHA's website at 

www.msha.gov/endblacklung. These stakeholder meetings are part of MSHA’s continuing commitment to 

End Black Lung and to provide compliance outreach assistance to the coal mining community. 

On-Line Training/Safety and Health Materials 

The Mine Safety and Health Administration is continually expanding its on-line training for miners, 

operators and other members of the mining community and displays these courses on its website. In 

addition, MSHA has published an on-line course catalogue of all of its training courses for MSHA 

employees and the public, including those courses held at the Mine Health and Safety Academy in Beckley, 

West Virginia at are open to the mining community. MSHA also provides a number of safety and health 

materials on its website to assist trainers and mine operators to promote a safe and healthy environment in 

the nation’s miners.

The Federal Register 

As a matter of practice DOL agencies use the Federal Register to announce opportunities for the public to 

engage both in person and through written comments. The latest notices in the Federal Register are 

available at https://www.federalregister.gov/agencies/labor-department. 

Online Events Calendar 

Information about Department of Labor-sponsored public conferences, seminars, and workshops across the 

country is posted online in an events calendar available through the “About Us” tab on the website and 

through the following direct link: https://www.dol.gov/calendar/. 
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The DOL Newsletter 

Sent to more than 445,000 subscribers each week, the DOL Newsletter includes a calendar of events for the 

upcoming week as well as highlights from the previous week’s public events. The current issue of the 

newsletter and archives of every issue since 2009 are available online at 

https://www.dol.gov/newsroom/newsletter. 

2.3. Records Management

The department is committed to meeting its records management requirements and ensuring the timely and 

secure transfer of all permanently valuable records to the National Archives and Records Administration. 

The department's Records Management Program objectives are to:

 Provide effective control, appropriate security, and management over the creation, maintenance, use 

and disposition of all records within the department regardless of recording media.

 Ensure that the records accurately reflect the business practices, polices, and transactions of the 

department.

 Foster effective and economical departmental record keeping.

 Ensure care, preservation and disposition of the department's records.

 Coordinate records management activities with other information management and departmental 

activities.

 Ensure all DOL employees are well-informed of their records management responsibilities.

 Prevent the unauthorized access, removal, and loss of departmental records.

On March 1, 2015, the department implemented paperless transfer, storage, and disposal of records 

transactions and records schedule creation, by adopting the mandatory use of two NARA systems. These 

systems include the Electronic Records Archives and the Archives and Records Centers Information System

which allow the standardization, perseveration, and central storage of all records transactions generated 

department-wide. ERA and ARCIS allow maximum security and access controls, while providing 

continuity and reducing administrative oversight and costs, related to the management of our records.

The department has also met all reporting requirements established by the NARA/OMB Managing 

Government Records Directive and has had all agencies participate on the annual Records Management 

Self-Assessments for the 4 last consecutive years. The reports can be found on the following sites:

 SAO Reports: http://www.archives.gov/records-mgmt/agency/sao-reporting.html 

 Records Management Self-Assessment (RMSA): http://www.archives.gov/recordsmgmt/resources/self-assessment.html 

A detailed description of the Department’s records management program is available at 

https://www.dol.gov/general/records. 

2.4. Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) Requests

The Department of Labor (DOL) has a decentralized Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) program 

that includes 23 agency components. Each agency component responds directly to FOIA requests 

implicating its programs and activities. Each of the Department’s 23 agency components have 
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been given flexibility to design a program appropriate to the kinds of requests and records they 

have. Most agencies have delegated disclosure responsibilities to officials at the Office Director or 

Division Chief level in Washington, as well as their regional offices. They have delegated their 

field FOIA responsibilities to district or areas offices. 

Although FOIA processes at DOL are decentralized, departmental oversight is provided by the 

Office of Information Services (OIS), which operates under the supervision of the Solicitor of 

Labor, the Department's Chief FOIA Officer. OIS provides agency-wide assistance and guidance 

to agency components (1) to ensure compliance with FOIA and Departmental guidance 

established; (2) to increase the quality and timeliness of FOIA responses; (3) to reduce the backlog 

of pending FOIA requests; (4) to review the effectiveness of each agency's FOIA processes in 

order to benchmark best practices; and (5) make recommendations for programmatic 

improvements. OIS has worked closely with the Department’s IT personnel to develop a more 

user-friendly public website that provides key information about the operations and activities of 

each agency component. Additional information about the Department's FOIA program and 

access to each agency component’s webpages is available online at http://www.dol.gov/dol/foia/. 

During Fiscal Year 2015, the U.S. Department of Labor received 16,792 FOIA requests and 

processed 17,104 requests. As demonstrated within the table below, the majority of the requests 

were to the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA – 54%), followed by the Wage 

and Hour Division (WHD – 16%), Employment and Training Administration (ETA – 9%), Mine 

Safety and Health Administration (MSHA – 7%) and the Employee Benefits Security 

Administration (EBSA -3%). The remaining eight percent of the Department’s requests were sent 

to DOL’s 18 other FOIA agency components.
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Processing Procedures 

DOL continues to review the administrative practices of each agency component to address the 

overall effectiveness of existing administrative processes. During FY2015 and FY2016, OIS 

conducted administrative reviews of the agency components, which included meeting with FOIA 

Coordinators and professional staff to obtain information regarding that component’s FOIA 

practices and analyzing whether DOL agency components are properly implementing DOL FOIA 

regulations.

Requester Services 

When requester concerns come to the attention of the DOL FOIA Public Liaison and the matter 

cannot be resolved within the Department, requesters are advised that they can seek assistance 

from the Office of Government Information Services (OGIS) to resolve disputes. OIS published 

FOIA Bulletin – 15-03: Enhancing Communication between the Agency and the Requester 

Community to remind and clarify to FOIA personnel the resources available to enhance 

communication and improve customer service to the requester community in the administration of 

FOIA. OIS also requested that each agency component have a “functional” Requester Service 

Center to assist with issues related to FOIA requests. The service center serves as the initial point 

of contact for requesters to obtain information about their FOIA requests. The requester can use 

the service center if they have a question about provisions of the FOIA or the FOIA requests they 

have submitted.

Self-Assessments 

DOL regularly reviews data in SIMS-FOIA to verify processing of FOIA requests received by the 

Department as well as to obtain the most accurate data for FOIA reporting purposes. OIS conducts 

informal quarterly audits to ensure that requests are being processed on a timely basis and that the 

appropriate documentation is loaded on the SIMS-FOIA tracking system for a thorough historical 

record. Quarterly data is published on the Department’s FOIA public page and in provided to 

FOIA personnel on the internal FOIA website.

Online tracking of FOIA requests 

The Department’s internal FOIA tracking system, SIMS FOIA, supports the recordkeeping aspects 

of the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) as amended and the Open Government Act of 2007. 

The application eliminates manual and hardcopy tracking of FOIA requests because such requests 

are tracked and resolved online. In addition, SIMS FOIA captures all information the Department 

needs to prepare its Annual Report in accordance with Department of Justice Office of Information 

Program guidance, as well as data needed for agency and ad hoc reporting purposes. The 

Department also maintains a public-facing web portal linked to the internal SIMS-FOIA data, 

which allows FOIA requesters to access the date of receipt of a request in DOL; the estimate dated 
21

of completion, and status of the processing of the request. The Department’s FOIA portal can be 

accessed at https://www.dol.gov/foia/.

In his 2009 FOIA Guidelines, the Attorney General strongly encouraged agencies to make 

discretionary releases of information even when the information might be technically exempt from 

disclosure under the FOIA. OIP encourages agencies to make such discretionary releases whenever 

there is no foreseeable harm from release. 

The Office of Information Services issued Departmental guidance on making discretionary 

disclosures. FOIA Bulletin 15-01: Reminder Concerning the Importance of Making Disclosures as 

a Matter of Discretion built on the general guidance issued by DOJ on when and how to make 

"discretionary disclosures" under FOIA, providing detailed information to assist in guiding 

decisions on discretionary disclosures based on knowledge of Departmental programs and the 

nature and character of the records DOL creates in carrying out its mission. 

To help ensure that agency components properly tracked whether a discretionary disclosure was 

made, DOL modified its FOIA tracking system to add a mandatory field that tracks, for each 

request, whether a disclosure was made as a matter of discretion. If the user indicates that a 

discretionary disclosure was made, the user must also identify which FOIA exemption could have 

been applied to withhold the information in question from disclosure. 

From the period of March 2015 through the first quarter of FY 2016, the Department of Labor 

made many discretionary disclosures of material it could have withheld under FOIA exemptions 

(b)(2) and (b)(5). Records released in full or in part include emails, accountability audit reports, 

inspector notes, investigative files, drafts, internal evaluation materials and training materials. 

Detailed information concerning agency components implementation of discretionary disclosures 

can be located in the Chief FOIA Reports at 

https://www.dol.gov/sol/foia/2016ChiefFOIAOfficerRpt.htm.

FOIA Outreach 

At the Departmental level, OIS encourages agency components to work closely with requesters to 

minimize disputes and conflicts. The DOL FOIA Public Liaison is in frequent contact with 

requesters, including public advocacy and open government groups, concerning the Department's 

FOIA policy. Consistent with the statutory role of that position, the FOIA Public Liaison has been 

an able resource in helping to negotiate the scope of extremely broad requests, fostering an 

understanding of the types of records created and maintained by the Department, resolving 

administrative processing matters such as fees and fee waivers, reducing delays, and assisting in 

the resolution of disputes. In December of 2014, the OIS published FOIA Bulletin – 15-03: 

Enhancing Communication between the Agency and the Requester Community. The purpose 

of this bulletin was to remind and clarify to FOIA personnel the resources available to enhance 

communication and improve customer service to the requester community in the administration of 

FOIA.
22

Contact information for the Department’s FOIA Public Liaison and the Requester Service Centers 

can be found at https://www.dol.gov/dol/foia/FOIA-Contacts.htm.

2.5. Congressional Requests

Congressional Requests 

The Office of Congressional and Intergovernmental Affairs (OCIA) has primary responsibility for 

analyzing and responding to Congressional requests for information. The Assistant Secretary for 

Congressional and Intergovernmental Affairs oversees a staff of Legislative Liaisons responsible 

for each of the specific offices and agencies within the Department of Labor. OCIA assists the 

Secretary, Deputy Secretary, agency heads, and departmental staff to develop effective programs 

and strategies to promote the Department's goals and objectives on Capitol Hill as well as among 

state and local officials.In addition to congressional and intergovernmental affairs staff in the 

National Office, OCIA also includes the Department of Labor's Regional Representatives. 

Additional information about OCIA, including contact information for key personnel can be found 

here at https://www.dol.gov/ocia/. 

OCIA created an online casework portal for staff of local elected officials to submit inquiries on 

behalf of their constituents. Inquiries addressed to the Secretary of Labor or the Assistant Secretary 

for Congressional & Intergovernmental Affairs related to specific policy matters are routed 

through the Executive Secretariat within the Office of the Secretary (OSEC). 

OCIA also notifies congressional offices regarding all regulatory actions, grant awards, TAA 

petitions, and Secretarial travel and provides direction and coordination for all congressional and 

intergovernmental liaison and outreach activities for the Department of Labor. 

A record of the recent congressional testimony by the Department's senior leadership is available 

online at http://www.dol.gov/_sec/media/congress/

2.6. Declassification

The Department of Labor has not had classification authority in over thirty (30) years. As a result, we do 

not have an active program for the declassification of documents, nor do we have staff assigned to this task. 

A small number of historic documents which were classified before 1978 are maintained by the National 

Archives and Records Administration, Federal Records Center Program under a joint Memorandum of 

Understanding.

2.7. Public Participation

White House Summit on Worker Voice 

The White House and the Department of Labor co-hosted the White House Worker Voice Summit on 

October 7, 2015. From February 2016 to September 2016, at President Obama’s direction, the Department 

of Labor hosted five additional regional summits in Minneapolis, MN; Los Angeles, CA; New York, NY; 

Washington, DC; and Miami, FL. The department convened these summits to bring together stakeholders 
23

including workers, worker centers, unions, non-profit organizations, advocacy groups, businesses, 

employers and local elected officials. Each summit included at least four breakout discussions for 

participants to engage in smaller groups to discuss innovative organizing campaigns led by local leaders and 

workers, legislative and organizing successes and individual workers’ stories and experiences. The regional 

summits included online and digital engagement, including guest blogs from local organizers and leaders 

and online and social media engagement. 

Worker.gov

In partnership with the EEOC, NLRB and Department of Justice, DOL is currently developing a usercentered and agile designed digital tool, worker.gov, that will provide workers and their advocates with 

direct access to information about workers’ rights and protections under the labor statutes enforced by these 

agencies. This tool will be launched in Fall 2016, as a prototype and will be expanded and refined through 

extensive worker engagement, consistent with its mission to enhance worker voice in the workplace.

Future of Work

In 2015, after a year of research and building relationships with key players, DOL hosted a three-day Future 

of Work symposium that brought together approximately 400 business leaders, workers, worker advocates, 

technology developers, academics, investors and other thought leaders in this area. The symposium dealt 

with crucial topics including benefit coverage in a changing labor market, enforcement of basic labor 

standards, training and development for a 21st-century workforce, and developing better data on emerging 

trends in order to inform smart policymaking. We continue to follow up and to engage key stakeholders on 

this topic on an ongoing basis. 

User-Centered Website Redesigns

In August 2016, the Employee Benefits Security Administration launched a redesigned and reorganized 

website following extensive usability testing. The usability testing involved feedback from all of the 

agency’s key audiences including workers, employers and researchers. The testing included the agency’s 

online inquiry form which was redone to make the form easier to use and to let visitors have the experience 

they were looking for in contacting the agency online. As part of the new website, EBSA also added new 

features based on feedback through this usability testing and user feedback to provide more of what visitors 

are searching for. EBSA continues to add additional content and develop new tools to respond to this 

feedback. In addition, EBSA plans to conduct usability testing after a period to allow visitors to become 

familiar with the new organization and look to see if further changes are needed.

The Mine Safety and Health Administration developed a new modernized website that is easier to use, with 

better content organization and improved search capabilities. On November 25, 2015, MSHA launched a 

beta version of the website so that the public could test and explore the site and provide feedback before 

MSHA fully transitioned to the new site. MSHA received about 200 comments from the public regarding 

the beta version of the website and incorporated this feedback into the new design. The new website was 

launched in February 2016. 

In January 2016, the primary public website for the department, DOL.gov, was partially moved into a new 

web content management system to allow for easier content updates and better structured website 

information. The updated website is also fully responsive. 
24

2.8. Collaboration

Building Communities of Practice to Support the Federal Workforce System

The department’s Employment and Training Administration currently sponsors an online platform called 

WorkforceGPS, which is designed to build the capacity of the Workforce Investment System. The site 

allows the professionals from across local, state and federal government that make up the federally-funded 

public workforce system to find useful technical assistance resources and to engage with each other as well 

as employers, community- and faith-based organizations and educators. WorkforceGPS supplements other 

technical assistance provided by ETA’s national and regional staff to build the capacity of the workforce 

investment system to successfully meet the employment needs of America’s workforce and employers. The 

site: 

 allows users to find, save, and share innovative approaches, products, and tools through targeted 

communities of practice, social media accounts, or via email;

 offers webinars and podcasts to explain regulations and highlight approaches and promising 

practices; provides a vehicle for ETA to share information and products developed at the national 

level; 

 serves as a key point of dissemination for the approaches, products, and tools for organizations 

receiving funding through the department’s competitive grant programs; and 

 offers a searchable repository with more than 6,000 resources with material added weekly to help 

strengthen the public workforce system to help them deliver crucial services to America’s job 

seekers. 

WorkforceGPS replaced the Employment and Training Administrations legacy technical assistance 

platform, Workforce3One in April 2016.

2.9. Flagship Initiative

Under a final rule that becomes effective January 1, 2017, OSHA will revise its requirements for recording 

and submitting records of workplace injuries and illnesses to require that some of this recorded information 

be submitted to OSHA electronically for posting to the OSHA website. OSHA will take information 

employers are already required to collect and use these data to help keep workers safer and make 

employers, the public, and the government better informed about workplace hazards. Releasing the data in 

standard, open formats will: 

 Encourage employers to increase their efforts to prevent worker injuries and illnesses, and, 

compelled by their competitive spirit, to race to the top in terms of worker safety; and

 Enable researchers to examine these data in innovative ways that may help employers make their 

workplaces safer and healthier and may also help to identify new workplace safety hazards before 

they become widespread.

These records published to OSHA's website are in addition to the significant amount of data that is already 

publicly available. OSHA is dedicated to making this data more readily accessible and easier to use than our 

current technology allows. To that end, OSHA is considering moving to a cloud-based data visualization 

platform.
25

Utilizing a commercial open data platform will make it easier for OSHA to release data to the public and 

easier for the public to utilize and analyze that data. We are looking at platforms that offer a wide array of 

data visualization options, including graphs, charts, and maps. The platform must also be simple enough 

that non-technical staff will be able to combine data visualizations, text, and images in order to tell a story 

with data.

Contingent on funding, OSHA plans to start the project as early as Fall 2016 with a pilot of 2-3 datasets.