The Socio-Economic Impact of Occupational Diseases and Injuries

The International Labour Organization 1) has estimated that there are 2.34 million work-related deaths every year. Among them, 321,000 are due to accidents whereas the remaining 2.02 million deaths are caused by various types of work-related diseases, which correspond to a daily average of more than 5,500 deaths. The International Labour Organization 1) states " The inadequate prevention of occupational diseases has profound negative effects not only on workers and their families but also on society at large due to the tremendous costs that it generates; particularly, in terms of loss of productivity and burdening of social security systems. " According to the International Social Security Association 2) , 270 million suffer non-fatal workplace accidents each year with 160 million new cases of occupational illnesses; the financial burden of compensation , health care, rehabilitation and invalidity is huge: a sum equivalent to 4 percent of world GDP for work injuries alone. For some developing countries, the cost can be as high as 10 percent of GDP. Farquhar et al. (2001) 3) stated in their book " Public health has, for many years, been concerned with efforts to increase the efficiency of health care delivery, to measure changes in health care resource utilization and associated costs, and to link these changes to different types of interventions. " From this viewpoint, we consider that research on the socioeconomic impact of occupational disease and injuries is important for decision makers in occupational health and safety to implement preventive measures, service and policy. In this Special Issue, we would like to focus on " The Socioeconomic Impact of Occupational Diseases and Injuries, " addressing the socioeconomic impact of occupational diseases and injuries as well as the cost-effectiveness (or benefits) of analysis of preventive measures and the evaluation of legislation and social policy in occupational health. In Volume 51: Issue 5 (2013) of Industrial Health, seven articles have been accepted for publication, viz (1) Santana et al. Issue are now under review and we expect publication in the following regular issues of Industrial Health. Santana et al. estimate the direct health care costs and socioeconomic consequences of work injuries by a prospective longitudinal study of workers identified in the emergency departments of public hospitals in Brazil. They report that approximately half the cases suffered loss of earnings, and female workers were more frequently dismissed than male workers. The most frequently reported family consequences were the …