October 14, 1999 (The Editor’s Desk is updated each business day.)
White-collar workers account for most cases of occupational stress
The majority of
cases of occupational stress are experienced by white-collar workers. In
1997, close to two-thirds of cases of occupational stress involving days
away from work occurred to workers in white-collar occupations.
![Percent distribution of cases of neurotic reaction to stress and of all nonfatal injuries and illnesses involving days away from work, by occupation, 1997](https://webarchive.library.unt.edu/web/20120925094127im_/http://www.bls.gov/opub/ted/images/1999/Oct/wk2/art03.gif)
[Chart data—TXT]
White-collar jobs fall into two broad categories: managerial and
professional occupations and technical, sales, and administrative support
occupations. Forty-eight percent of cases of occupational stress occurred
to workers in technical, sales, and administrative support jobs, and 16
percent of stress cases occurred to those in managerial and professional
jobs.
In contrast, over half of all nonfatal occupational injuries and
illnesses are experienced by blue-collar workers. In particular,
operators, fabricators, and laborers accounted for 42 percent of all
nonfatal occupational injuries and illnesses in 1997, and workers in
precision production, craft, and repair occupations accounted for 17
percent.
These data are a product of the BLS Safety
and Health Statistics Program. Cases of occupational stress involving
days away from work are classified by BLS as cases of "neurotic
reaction to stress." Additional information is available from
"Occupational Stress: Counts and Rates" (PDF
52K), by Timothy Webster and
Bruce Bergman, Compensation and Working Conditions, Fall 1999. Farming, forestry, and
fishing occupations are not represented on the chart because the statistic
on neurotic reaction to stress for these occupations did not meet
publication guidelines.
Of interest
Spotlight on Statistics: National Hispanic Heritage Month
In this Spotlight, we take a look at the Hispanic labor force—including labor force participation, employment and unemployment, educational attainment, geographic location, country of birth, earnings, consumer expenditures, time use, workplace injuries, and employment projections.
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