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Research Statistics

Overview

The WC Division provides data in order to facilitate a variety of research, resulting in statistical information on workers injuries, illnesses and fatalities. This research is used in a myriad of ways by various audiences, including State and Federal agencies.

Partnership with Wisconsin Department of Health Services

In 2024 the Occupational Health and Safety Surveillance Program at the Wisconsin Department of Health Services (DHS) implemented its “Wisconsin adult workers compensation claims” dashboard. This dashboard was created in conjunction with the WC Division through an ongoing partnership. The dashboard allows the user to filter claim statistics by year, industry, occupation, type, and nature of injury. It also allows the user to access greater detail on subsectors, minor occupations, and the types of injuries most common to each. The interactivity provides a powerful, customizable user experience with new ways of using the WC data. As a result, the WC Division has discontinued the Annual Reports produced in conjunction with the Wisconsin State Laboratory of Hygiene (WSLH). This decision was made with the support of WSLH, which continues to lead vital work on occupational injury, illness, and death data using other data sources. The old Annual Reports are archived and available upon request. Please see the Contact Information on the left sidebar when requesting the archived data.

While the dashboard covers much of the same information as the old WSLH reports, there are some important differences that users of the Annual Reports should keep in mind. The most notable difference is that the DHS dashboard includes paid and unpaid claims, which results in higher total claim counts per year than those in the old Annual Reports. When looking at trends, we recommend that you do so within a single data source only. For example, dashboard users should only compare years of data within the dashboard. Former users of the Annual Reports should only compare numbers from the old static reports.

You can find DHS' Occupational Health Dashboards here: Data and Occupational Health Publications | Wisconsin Department of Health Services.

Partnership with Wisconsin State Laboratory of Hygiene

The WC Division has a long history of partnering with the Wisconsin State Laboratory of Hygiene, Division of Public Health Informatics and Surveillance, in order to produce the annual Survey of Occupational Injuries and Illnesses (SOII) and the Census of Fatal Occupational Injuries (CFOI) survey.

Survey of Occupational Injuries and Illnesses (SOII)

These reports provide statistical information on work related injuries and illnesses (excluding first aid) collected from employers OSHA and Worker's Compensation records.

2020 through 2008 SOII Reports

Census of Fatal Occupational Injuries (CFOI)

These reports are a complete study of work related fatalities that occurred in Wisconsin regardless of coverage by OSHA or Worker's Compensation using a wide variety of reports (death certs., WC, Coroners/Medical Examiners, OSHA, etc.).

2020 through 2008 CFOI Reports

Other Research Related Links

The Workers Compensation Research Institute is an independent, not-for-profit research organization providing high-quality, objective information about public policy issues involving worker's compensation systems. The WCRI has completed several studies on the Wisconsin Worker's Compensation System.