The Bottom Line: What’s the Economic Burden of Work Injuries and Diseases?
03/30/2021
Recently, researchers quantified the economic burden of work injuries and diseases based on direct health care costs, indirect productivity costs, and intangible health-related costs. Director of Ergonomics Research Blake McGowan shares the findings in this month's Bottom Line video. Watch the video above.
In summary, the four findings are:
- The economic burden for a country ranges between 3% and 10% of all the goods and service produced by that country in a year.
- The costs per work injury and disease ranges between $45,000 and $85,000 (USD) per case.
- 8% are direct health care costs; 62% are indirect productivity costs; and 30% are intangible health related costs.
- 68% of costs are absorbed by the worker and family; 18% of costs are absorbed by the employer; and 14% of costs are absorbed by the public sector or system.
References: Tompa, E., Mofidi, A., van den Heuvel, S. et al. Economic burden of work injuries and diseases: a framework and application in five European Union countries. BMC Public Health 21, 49 (2021). https://doi.org/10.1186/s12889-020-10050-7
