Date of Graduation
2004
Document Type
Dissertation/Thesis
Abstract
Mankind has been concerned with the safety and well-being of workers for more than 2,000 years. Despite this concern, occupational injuries have claimed the lives of nearly 60,000 American workers from 1992-2001 as reported through the Bureau of Labor Statistics Census of Fatal Occupational Injuries (CFOI) program. The traditional measures of the human loss used—frequency, rate, and severity—are not the only measures of the achievements of the occupational safety and health community. Nor are they the only means to direct efforts to reduce the number of occupational incidents. Economic loss is another perspective that provides a more complete and meaningful outcome evaluation over time, and can assist in directing scarce research resources. Estimates of the value of these lives have been calculated, but nearly all studies present an aggregate value, which sheds no light on the variations in costs for different case or worker characteristics. This project developed a computerized model for calculating cost consequences, which provides a tool for policy makers to systematically examine current and potential research impacts, using standard economic measures. The model estimates comprehensive national costs for all occupational fatal injuries reported through CFOI and specific estimates for the burden on selected groups and characteristics of the fatality. These estimates can be incorporated into evaluative tools such as cost utility, cost effectiveness, cost benefit, and other decision analysis to assist in allocating limited resources more effectively. This study provides the means to determine the loss to U.S. income resulting from the contribution loss of the deceased workers—nearly {dollar}50 billion for 1992-2001 demonstrating the substantial loss of human capital that could be prevented. Unlike earlier works, this model uses a “bottom-up†approach by estimating the value of an individual fatality based on the key characteristics of that fatality, and then sums the individual fatality costs to arrive at the national burden in the aggregate and by individual characteristic. This model provides a new and reliable basis for targeting and evaluating the effectiveness of investments in the prevention of occupational fatalities for use by the occupational safety and health community—economic risk.
Recommended Citation
Biddle, Elyce Anne, "Estimating the impact of occupational fatal injuries on the United States gross domestic product." (2004). Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Problem Reports. 8484.
https://researchrepository.wvu.edu/etd/8484