As the debate over health care reform continues, costs have become a critical measure in the many plans and proposals to come before us. Knowing costs is important because it allows comparisons across such disparate health conditions as AIDS, Alzheimer's disease, heart disease, and cancer. This book presents the results of a major study estimating the large and largely overlooked costs of occupational injury and illness--costs as large as those for cancer and over four times the costs of AIDS. The incidence and mortality of occupational injury and illness were assessed by reviewing data from national surveys and applied an attributable-risk-proportion method. Costs were assessed using the human capital method that decomposes costs into direct categories such as medical costs and insurance administration expenses, as well as indirect categories such as lost earnings and lost fringe benefits. The total is estimated to be $155 billion and is likely to be low as it does not include costs associated with pain and suffering or of home care provided by family members. Invaluable as an aid in the analysis of policy issues, Costs of Occupational Injuryand Illness will serve as a resource and reference for economists, policy analysts, public health researchers, insurance administrators, labor unions and labor lawyers, benefits managers, and environmental scientists, among others. J. Paul Leigh is Professor in the School of Medicine, Department of Epidemiology and Preventive Medicine, University of California, Davis. Stephen Markowitz, M.D., is Professor in the Department of Community Health and Social Medicine, City University of New York Medical School. Marianne Fahs is Director of the Health Policy Research Center, Milano Graduate School of Management and Urban Policy, New School University. Philip Landrigan, M.D., is Wise Professor and Chair of the Department of Community Medicine, Mount Sinai Medical Center, New York.

Identifies the elements which should taken into account in determining the cost of occupational accidents and diseases at the national level, with a focus on developing countries.-

The need to improve working life in the European Union (EU) is still urgent today. In 2016, approximately 2.4 million non-fatal accidents requiring at least 4 days of absence from work and 3,182 fatal accidents were reported in EU Member States. In addition to these accident rates, figures from 2013 show that 7.9 % of the workforce suffered from occupational health problems, of which 36% resulted in absence from work for at least 4 days (Eurostat, 2018a, 2018c). These occupational injuries, diseases and deaths result in high economic costs to individuals, employers, governments and society. Negative effects may include costly early retirement, the loss of skilled staff, absenteeism as well as presenteeism (when employees go to work despite illness, increasing the likelihood of mistakes) and high medical costs and insurance premiums. In a previous project, the European Agency for Safety and Health at Work (EU-OSHA) estimated that 3.9 % of global gross domestic product (GDP) and 3.3 % of European GDP is spent on dealing with occupational injuries and diseases (EU-OSHA, 2017a). This percentage may vary widely between countries, in particular between western and non-western countries, depending on the industrial mix, legislative context and prevention incentives. Understanding the magnitude of the problem calls for a reliable and comprehensive estimate of occupational injury and disease costs to society. It is vital for policy-makers to be aware of these costs to help them to set priorities. Insight into the financial consequences of occupational injury and disease provides governments, policy-makers and employers’ organisations with relevant data for the purpose of developing occupational safety and health (OSH) policies and agreements. Moreover, insight into these costs will help to raise awareness of the magnitude of the problem and will contribute to a more efficient allocation of resources for OSH.

Occupational injury is a major and often preventable health problem in the work environment. Each year throughout the world millions are affected by traumatic occupational injuries and many thousands are actually killed in work-related incidents. This book provides a diverse and multi-faceted look at some of the themes directing late-1990s research and intervention within the area of occupational injury and safety. The book is divided into seven thematic parts with an introduction provided for each section. The topics include estimating the size of the problem, with discussions of different analytical techniques and their efficacy; the nature of causal agents the relative roles of risk, behaviour and organization processes; and the role played by compensation processes. Together the book brings into focus twenty chapters which address some of the issues of occupational injury and safety.

The need to improve working life in the European Union (EU) is still urgent today. In 2016, approximately 2.4 million non-fatal accidents requiring at least 4 days of absence from work and 3,182 fatal accidents were reported in EU Member States. In addition to these accident rates, figures from 2013 show that 7.9 % of the workforce suffered from occupational health problems, of which 36% resulted in absence from work for at least 4 days (Eurostat, 2018a, 2018c). These occupational injuries, diseases and deaths result in high economic costs to individuals, employers, governments and society. Negative effects may include costly early retirement, the loss of skilled staff, absenteeism as well as presenteeism (when employees go to work despite illness, increasing the likelihood of mistakes) and high medical costs and insurance premiums. In a previous project, the European Agency for Safety and Health at Work (EU-OSHA) estimated that 3.9 % of global gross domestic product (GDP) and 3.3 % of European GDP is spent on dealing with occupational injuries and diseases (EU-OSHA, 2017a). This percentage may vary widely between countries, in particular between western and non-western countries, depending on the industrial mix, legislative context and prevention incentives. Understanding the magnitude of the problem calls for a reliable and comprehensive estimate of occupational injury and disease costs to society. It is vital for policy-makers to be aware of these costs to help them to set priorities. Insight into the financial consequences of occupational injury and disease provides governments, policy-makers and employers’ organisations with relevant data for the purpose of developing occupational safety and health (OSH) policies and agreements. Moreover, insight into these costs will help to raise awareness of the magnitude of the problem and will contribute to a more efficient allocation of resources for OSH.

Research report evaluating the present situation and suggesting ways of improving occupational health and occupational safety in the USA - identifies common hazards; shows how protective equipment, ergonomics and safety training can help reduce occupational accidents; explains the role of government agencys and labour inspection; includes a glossary of safety terms. Bibliography, illustrations, organigram, statistical tables.