At step 5 of the sequential evaluation process, Social Security must determine your ability to do other work. When making this determination, the administration uses the occupational data contained in the Dictionary of Ocupational Titles (DOT), which was compiled by the U.S. Department of Labor. However, the DOT has not been revised or updated since the fourth edition, which was published way back in 1991.
As Charles Hall writes in Social Security News:
How do we know whether there is other work that a person can do despite their physical or mental impairments? We look at occupational data. If that occupational data is out of date — and not just by a little bit, but by about 20 years, the whole disability determination process is dubious.
Charles Hall breaks the news that Social Security is starting to take action to bring the DOT (literally) into the 21st century. You can read his entire post here.
A update of the DOT, or any change in the occupational data used by Social Security to assess disability, would be a big deal for Social Security disability lawyers. But it will be years down the road before we see any change.