Work-related accidents costs

Damien Leger developed a special report for the National Commission on Sleep Disorders Research (NCSDR). He estimated that the total cost of accidents attributable to sleepiness in 1988 was between 43.15 billion and 56.02 billion dollars (5). He reported that in 1988, the costs of all motor vehicle accidents ( 70.2 billion), work-related accidents ( 47.1 billion), home-based accidents ( 17.4 billion), and public accidents ( 10.9 billion) were 143.4 billion. Any duplications between work-related and motor-vehicle accidents and home-based and motor-vehicle accidents were eliminated in the total by the author. Thus, the total amount was less than the sums. 

B. Cost of Work-related Accidents Caused by Sleepiness... 

In 1988, the total cost of work-related accidents of 47.1 billion was based on 10,600 deaths and 1,800,000 disabling injuries. Included in the estimate of work-related accidents attributable to sleepiness were (a) motor-vehicle accidents due to shift work and on-the-job motor vehicle accidents (35.0% of total work-related accidents), (b) falls during work caused by sleepiness or inattention (12.6%), and (c) water and transportation accidents (4.8%). Therefore, of all work-related accidents, about 52.5% might potentially be related to sleepiness and then, accounting for 5565 fatalities and 945,000 disabling injuries, resulted in a cost of 24.7 billion. 

Work-related accidents in the UK cost industry over 11 billion each year. The coastal and maritime engineering sector constitutes a significant industry and makes therefore a significant contribution to this cost. 

The cost of workplace injuries is enormous. In 1992 the U.S. economy lost 115.9 billion from work-related accidents 62.5 billion from wage and productivity losses, 22.0 billion from medical costs, 14.5 billion from administration expenses, 3.4 billion from motor vehicle damages, 10.2 billion from indirect employer costs, and 3.3 billion from fire losses (National Safety Council 1993). In addition to monetary losses, work injuries cause pain and suffering and frequently result in permanent disabilities that impede the normal enjoyment of life. The National Safety Council (1993) estimated that for every dollar of monetary loss accidents lower the quality of life on average by two dollars. With a two-to-one quality-of-life loss ratio the total cost of workplace accidents in 1992 was 347.7 billion, about 5.8 percent of 1992 U.S. GDP. 

A Swiss study examined the epidemiology and costs of work-related bums [18]. These authors found that 4.6 % of all accidents in Switzerland were bums and that 3 % of all work-related accidents were bums. Based on population demographics, they estimated approximately 36,000 bum injuries per year with 5 % of these requiring hospital admission and one-third of those reqniring treatment in a specialized bum center. Of 6,814 bum injuries in 1984, 58 % (3,952) were work related. The total cost for bum care was 17.7 million Swiss Francs, with 19 % for medical care and the rest for other compensation. These anthors did not separate chemical skin injuries from other bum etiologies [18]. 

According to International Labour Organization every day, 6,300 people die due to occupational accidents or work-related diseases, what constitutes more than 2.3 million deaths per year. In addition, 313 million accidents happen on the job yearly what often leads to extended absences from work. The human cost of accidents is estimated at 4 per cent of global Gross Domestic Product each year (Safety at work 2013). Thus, there is a need to increase the awareness of the scope and consequences of work-related accidents, injuries and diseases, and make an attempt to find an explanation for them and their causes. 

Fatal accident rate Lost-time injury rate Capital cost of accidents Number of plant/community evacuations Cost of business interruption Cost of workers compensation claims Number of hazardous material spills (in excess of a threshold) Tonnage of hazardous material spilled Tonnage of air, water, liquid and solid effluent Tonnage of polluting materials released into the environment Employee exposure monitoring Number of work related sickness claims Number of regulatory citations and fines Ecological impact of operations (loss or restoration of biodiversity, species, habitats)... 

Alcohol abuse in the United States costs an estimated 170 billion each year. Close to half of this figure is due to a loss in workplace productivity resulting from illness and work-related injury. Other contributing factors are alcohol-related health care expenses costing society over 26 million and automobile accidents estimated at 15 million. Fifty percent of the adults in prison are incarcerated for crimes that are alcohol related. Alco-... 

Gordon, F. and Risley, D. (1999). The Cost to Britain of Workplace Accidents and Work Related Ill-Health in 1995196 (2nd edn). London HSE Books. 

Every few minutes somebody in the world dies from work-related causes and every year hundreds of thousands of employees are involved from injuries during work activities. The potential financial devastation caused by the costs associated with accidents necessitates the adoption of an improvement process in the areas of safety, health, and environmental protection. During the last years high technological progresses have been made about safety and health in working activities. Even if the safety rules have became stricter and the concept of risk assessment is now well established and forms the basis of health and safety legislation, the work injury is still a big problem as it is clearly shows by statistics related to many terrible events. 

Monnery N.,1998. The costs of accidents and work-related ill-health to a cheque clearing department of a financial services organization. Safety Science, Volume 31, Issue 1, March 1998, Pages 59-69. 

More than the economic costs of workplace accidents and diseases the human suffering of the victims and their families drives the desire to design government programs to reduce the frequency and the severity of work related injuries. Until the early part of the twentieth century an... 

The true costs of accidents to organizations are nearly always higher than just the costs of repairs and insurance claims. The benefits of managing work-related road safety can be considerable, no matter what the size of the organizations. There will be benefits in the area of ... 

A further study has looked at the wider effect on the economy of industrial accidents Davies and Teasdale The costs to the British economy of work accidents and work-related ill health (HSE, 1994). 

Day, L. M. Farm Work Related Fatalities among Adults in Victoria, Australia The Human Cost of Agriculture. Accident Analysis and Prevention 31, no. 1-2 (1998) 153-159. 

Accidents and work related ill-health cost the British economy between 6 billion and 12 billion per year. 30 million days are lost each year from work related injuries and ill-health. 

A I have asked our Corporate VP for Operations to take day-to-day oversight of the work. I expect to review progress every month. I will make sure that the project has all the resources and management commitment needed to make it succeed. I have already planned for an annual reduction in accident and incident related costs of at least 10 percent each year. I have given my personal commitment to the board that we will achieve this. 

Insomnia is associated with severe daytime dysfunction and low performance, related to traffic accidents and work absenteeism [7], with increasing medical burden, attributable to both direct medical and indirect costs [8]. 

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