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NIOSH Programs > Economics > Occupational Risks
EconomicsInputs: Occupational Safety and Health RisksA recent article in the Journal of Occupational and Environmental Medicine provided a comprehensive review of current estimates of the burden of occupational disease and injury in the United States and worldwide and concluded that these estimates do not capture the true burden for workers, employers, and society overall. The burden of illnesses is especially difficult to estimate because individual cases of disease typically have multiple potential causes, many incentives for underreporting exist, and a long period occurs between exposure and diagnosis or reporting. The different methodologies used to estimate the cost, number, and rates of occupational deaths, injuries, and illnesses also dramatically affect the results. Source: Characterizing the burden of occupational injury and disease. J Occup Environ Med 2005 Jun; 47(6):607-622 Estimates of Domestic BurdenFor detailed surveillance information and publications, see the NIOSHSurveillance Topic Page. Source: Characterizing the burden of occupational injury and disease. J Occup Environ Med 2005 Jun; 47(6):607-622 Fatal Occupational InjuriesIn the United States, for the year 2005, the Bureau of Labor Statistics reported 5,702 fatal work injuries. Recently published NIOSH fact sheets present the total, mean, and median costs of occupational fatalities by industry (according to the Standard Industrial Classification System) and selected characteristics for the period 1992–2002. Costs are expressed as the sum of direct and indirect costs: direct costs include medical expenses, while indirect costs are expressed as the value of future earnings (in present value terms) summed from the year of death until the decedent would have reached age 67. The total cost of fatal injuries exceeded $53 billion (in 2003 dollars) during the period examined. Sources: Bureau of Labor Statistics. TABLE A-1. Fatal occupational injuries by industry and event or exposure, All United States, 2005 ( NIOSH fatal occupational injury cost fact sheets (September 2006):
Nonfatal Occupational Injuries and IllnessesIn 2005, the Bureau of Labor Statistics also reported 4.2 million nonfatal work injuries and illnesses in U.S. private industry alone. According to the Liberty Mutual 2005 Workplace Safety Index, employers spent $50.8 billion in 2003 on wage payments and medical care for workers hurt on the job. Indirect costs ranged between $152.4 and $254 billion in 2003. The annual Index study tracks the causes and costs of serious workplace injuries that cause workers to miss 6 or more days from work. The estimates are derived by combining information from Liberty Mutual, the Bureau of Labor Statistics, and the National Academy of Social Insurance. The direct costs reported are costs to employers and include payments to injured workers and their medical care providers. An earlier Liberty Mutual survey found that executives believed that each $1 of direct costs generated between $3 and $5 of indirect costs, including the overtime, training, and lost productivity related to an injured employee not being able to perform their normal work. Bureau of Labor Statistics. TABLE 2. Numbers of nonfatal occupational injuries and illnesses by industry and case types, 2005. ( Liberty Mutual. Despite 6.2% fall in the number of serious workplace injuries, their financial impact on employers remains huge. Liberty Mutual. Direct costs of disabling work injuries grow 2.5 percent. April 7, 2003. Estimates of Worldwide BurdenDisability Adjusted Life Years (DALYs) are extensively used by the World Health Organization for international comparisons of disease burden. Developed by Murray and Lopez1, DALYs conceptualize the combined effect of years lived with a disability and premature death due to an exposure to a risk factor. Each year of life lived with a disability is taken as equivalent to the loss of a certain fraction of a year of healthy life, based on the severity of the disability. Other measures that aim to combine morbidity and mortality, such as Quality Adjusted Life Years, also are increasingly being used. Worldwide, for the year 2000:
1.The global burden of disease: a comprehensive assessment of mortality and disability from diseases, injuries, and risk factors in 1990 and projected to 2020. Published by the Harvard School of Public Health on behalf of the World Health Organization and the World Bank; Distributed by Harvard University Press, 1996 2.The global burden due to occupational injury. Am J Ind Med 2005 Dec; 48(6):470-481 3.The global burden of disease due to occupational carcinogens. Am J Ind Med 2005 Dec; 48(6):419-431 4.The global burden of non-malignant respiratory disease due to occupational airborne exposures. Am J Ind Med 2005 Dec; 48(6):432-445 5.The global burden of occupational noise-induced hearing loss. Am J Ind Med 2005 Dec; 48(6):446-458 6.Estimating the global burden of low back pain attributable to combined occupational exposures. Am J Ind Med 2005 Dec; 48(6):459-469 7.Estimation of the global burden of disease attributable to contaminated sharps injuries among health-care workers. Am J Ind Med 2005; 48:482-490. |
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NIOSH Program Portfolio:Economics |
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