Types of Illness and Injury Health Events

DOE-STD-1190-2007

Maintaining the confidentiality of information for each worker is of the highest importance;

therefore, the occupational medicine department at each site will assign every worker on the

roster a unique, permanent, coded identification number to be used on all data submitted for

illness and injury surveillance. In all communications with the Data Center at ORISE or the

Office of Illness and Injury Prevention Programs at DOE Headquarters, worker information

will reference only the coded identification number of the individual. All reports and

analyses that use worker information will be summarized and grouped so that individual

information cannot be disclosed or tracked back to a specific worker. These methods of

maintaining confidentiality minimize the possibility of violating privacy protections laws,

rules and standards.

The protection and use of DOE-owned personnel and medical records are regulated under

the authority of the Privacy Act of 1974 (5 USC 552a, as amended). Rules on the routine

use of these records are published in DOE implementing regulations (see Federal Register /

Vol. 68, No. 125 / Monday, June 30, 2003 page 38756.) Similar requirements exist for

contractor-owned medical records, which are regulated under authority of the Health

Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA). Department of Health and Human

Services (HHS) regulations implementing HIPAA are published in 45 Code of Federal

Regulations Parts 160, 162, and 164. The Department of Energy regulations implementing

the Privacy Act of 1974 are published in 10 Code of Federal Regulations Part 1008. For

those clinics operating under HHS guidelines for covered entities, the Illness and Injury

Surveillance Program has adapted its data requests to ensure that it accommodates the site's

response to HHS requirements. These adaptations are managed on a site by site basis, often

taking the form of meeting site-determined criteria for de-identification of data. States also

require compliance with confidentiality protection rules and standards as conditions for

maintaining professional licenses.

5. Types of Illness and Injury Health Events

Four major categories of illness and injury events eligible for reporting to the Illness and

Injury Surveillance Program are described below: