Workers' Memorial Day — April 28, 2013
Workers' Memorial Day recognizes workers who died or suffered from exposures to hazards at work. In 2011, a total of 4,069 U.S. workers died from work-related injuries (1). Most fatalities from work-related illness are not captured by national surveillance systems, but an estimate for 2007 was 53,445 deaths (2). Several national surveillance systems report new cases of nonfatal work-related injuries and illnesses, although no system captures all cases. In 2011, nearly 3 million injuries and illnesses to private industry workers and 821,000 to state and local government workers were reported by employers (3). In the same year, an estimated 2.9 million work-related injuries were treated in emergency departments, resulting in 150,000 hospitalizations (CDC, unpublished data, 2013).Based on methods that focus on medical costs and productivity losses, the societal cost of work-related fatalities, injuries, and illnesses was estimated at $250 billion in 2007 (2). Methods that include consideration of pain and suffering would result in a higher estimated societal cost (4). CDC is working to better describe the burden of fatalities, injuries, and illnesses suffered by workers; additional information is available at http://www.cdc.gov/niosh/programs/econ/risks.html.
References
- Bureau of Labor Statistics. Economic news release: table 2: fatal occupational injuries by industry and selected event or exposure, 2011 (preliminary). Washington, DC: US Department of Labor, Bureau of Labor Statistics; 2012.
- Leigh JP. Economic burden of occupational injury and illness in the United States. Millbank Q 2011;89:728–72.
- Bureau of Labor Statistics. Economic news release: workplace injury and illness summary. Washington, DC: US Department of Labor, Bureau of Labor Statistics; 2012.
- Haddix AC, Teutsch SM, Corso PS, eds. Prevention effectiveness: a guide to decision analysis and economic evaluation. New York, NY: Oxford University Press;2003:74.