Social and economic impacts of workplace illness and injury: Current and future directions for research

✍ Scribed by Leslie I. Boden; Elyce A. Biddle; Emily A. Spieler

• Publisher: John Wiley and Sons
• Year: 2001
• Tongue: English
• Weight: 75 KB
• Volume: 40
• Category: Article
• ISSN: 0271-3586
• DOI: 10.1002/ajim.10013

✦ Synopsis

Millions of occupational illnesses and injuries occur each year in the US, yet the human and economic impact of these events is inadequately studied and understood. Improved information about these impacts is crucial both to setting priorities for an occupational safety and health research agenda and for developing broader policies aimed at prevention of disease, injury, and disability.

Occupational injuries and diseases affect workers themselves, but they also impose signi®cant burdens on workers' families, employers, and the larger community. As Dembe writes in this issue: ``An injury or illness, whether caused occupationally or not, can represent a signi®cant life event, becoming part of a person's individual identity and approach to daily existence. An injury or illness thus potentially affects every aspect of life: the pursuit of a career, leisure activities, religious orientation and practice, personal and group relationships, family responsibilities, involvement in political activities, and so forth'' [Dembe, 2001]. The ripples from these events reach all of us.

The impact of these injuries include changes in the employment and earnings of injured workers, adverse effects on productivity and competitiveness, and other economic costs, including those associated with compensa-tion systems. The total economic costs of occupational illness and injury rival those of cancer and heart disease [Leigh et al., 1997]. But, these illnesses and injuries also have substantial noneconomic effects on quality of life. Physical and psychological functioning in everyday activities can be affected, self-esteem and self-con®dence reduced, and family relationships stressed. Labor relations in workplaces may be damaged. Despite the large, diverse, and dispersed effects of occupational illnesses and injuries, our understanding of these impacts is unfortunately still limited.