The Social Security Administration (SSA) is requesting comments from the public on recommendations recently submitted by the Occupational Information Development Advisory Panel. Basically, the Panel is recommending that the current Dictionary of Occupational Titles (DOT) be modified to reflect the present-day job market. SSA uses the DOT to adjudicate disability claims. Specifically, SSA measures a claimant's disability by analyzing the work activities and related demands required to perform a particular job.
The recommended changes include grouping occupations at a level to support individual disability assessment, creating precise occupational data, defining minimum levels of requirements needed to perform work, and modifying other outdated aspects of the DOT. The Panel's research showed that these modifications along with creating a comprehensive list of work activities, including the physical and psychological abilities required to complete those activities, would help tailor the DOT to SSA's needs.
By taking both public comments and the latest government and private sector's input to formulate the new DOT, the benefits system can become more efficient. For example, SSA's medical-vocational adjudication policies are based on the DOT. Without updated information, SSA's benefits claims are not processed as efficiently as they should be. The DOT affects the medical and vocational analysis of claims, and defines the physical and mental demands of a particular work function.
Could the SSA's DOT Be Combined with the Department of Labor's O*NET?
The Department of Labor (DOL) is considering a similar modification for use in its Occupational Information Network (O*NET). O*NET is used by DOL to analyze occupational information in the United States. Until 1998, DOL used the same DOT that SSA used, until DOL deemed the DOT obsolete. Now, DOL views disability determinations by analyzing the impact on a claimant's ability to work as opposed to the impairments and functional limitations caused by a condition.
Now that SSA is planning to modify and update the DOT, both the SSA and DOL should, once again, share the same information. Both agencies share similar goals and would use the updated DOT for similar purposes. By using the same knowledge base, some activities of both agencies could be streamlined. Statistics accumulated by either group for use in planning would be more inclusive and accurate if both agencies worked from the same DOT.
This collaboration has been recommended by the Committee on National Statistics; however, the Committee has recommended modifying O*NET to meet the needs of both agencies as opposed to modifying the DOT. For now, it appears that plans to update the DOT and O*NET will continue by both Federal Agencies.
