The
National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health unveiled
the Steps to a Healthier Workforce Initiative at a December
2003 planning meeting.
The planning meeting was followed by a October
2004 Symposium in Washington DC.
In 2005 the Initiatve was changed from Steps to the NIOSH
WorkLife Initiative.
Healthy Working & Healthy Living
The Steps to a Healthier US Workforce initiative
was developed to encourage workplace safety and health programs
that focus on both:
- Preventing work-related illness, injury, and disability,
and
- Promoting healthy living and lifestyles to reduce and
prevent chronic disease.
This initiative supports the view that all illness and injury
should be prevented when possible, controlled when necessary,
and treated where appropriate.
The health of the U.S. economy depends on a healthy and
productive workforce. Yet,
- 5,524 occupational fatalities occurred in 2002, 1
- 5.2 million non-fatal injuries and illnesses occurred
in 2001in the private sector alone,2 and
- the estimated direct costs for occupational injuries
and illnesses reached $40.1 billion in 1999, with
over $200 billion of indirect costs.3
Lifestyle behaviors around physical activities, nutrition,
tobacco smoking, and substance abuse have a significant impact
on people’s health. These lifestyle exposures contribute
to many diseases including type 2 diabetes, hypertension, heart
disease, stroke, and some forms of cancer, and obesity. According
to the Center for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC),4 each
year
- at least 300,000 people die from illnesses associated
with obesity;
- 440,000 die from illnesses attributed to cigarette
smoking; and
- 40% of all deaths are caused by heart disease or
stroke.
Investments in preventing occupational and non-occupational
illness, injury, and disability experienced by the U.S. workforce
can have a significant impact on the health-related productivity
of American business.
The initiative creates an opportunity for both the occupational
safety and health community and the health promotion community
to develop and implement workplace programs collaboratively
that prevent workplace illness and injury, promote health,
and optimize the health of the U.S. workforce.
The VISION of the WorkLife Initiative (WLI) is safe and
healthier workers in workplaces that protect, sustain, and
promote health and wellbeing.
The WorkLife Initiative envisions workplaces that are free
of recognized hazards, with health-promoting and sustaining
policies, programs, and practices; and employees with ready
access to effective programs and services that protect their
health, safety, and wellbeing.
| 1 BLS. National
Census of Fatal Occupational Injuries, 2002. USDL 03-488 |
| |
September 17,2003. |
| 2 BLS. Annual Survey of
Occupational Injuries and Illnesses, 2001. USDL. 02-687. |
| |
December 19, 2002. |
| 3 The Liberty Mutual Workplace
Safety Index. 2002 |
| 4 CDC. The Burden of Chronic
Diseases and Their Risk Factors. National and State |
| |
Perspectives. 2002. |
|
