Dying for Work: The Magnitude of US Mortality from Selected Causes of Death Associated with Occupation

Details

• Personal Author:
  Burnett C ; Hurrell, Joseph J. Jr. ; Lalich, Nina ; Steenland, Kyle ; Ward E
• Description:
  Deaths due to occupational disease and injury place a heavy burden on society in terms of economic costs and human suffering. We estimate the annual deaths due to selected diseases for which an occupational association is reasonably well established and quantifiable, by calculation of attributable fractions (AFs), with full documentation; the deaths due to occupational injury are then added to derive an estimated number of annual deaths due to occupation. Using 1997 US mortality data, the estimated annual burden of occupational disease mortality resulting from selected respiratory diseases, cancers, cardiovascular disease, chronic renal failure, and hepatitis is 49,000, with a range from 26,000 to 72,000. The Bureau of Labor Statistics estimates there are about 6,200 work-related injury deaths annually. Adding disease and injury data, we estimate that there are a total of 55,200 US deaths annually resulting from occupational disease or injury (range 32,200-78,200). Our estimate is in the range reported by previous investigators, although we have restricted ourselves more than others to only those diseases with well-established occupational etiology, biasing our estimates conservatively. The underlying assumptions and data used to generate the estimates are well documented, so our estimates may be updated as new data emerges on occupational risks and exposed populations, providing an advantage over previous studies. We estimate that occupational deaths are the 8th leading cause of death in the US, after diabetes (64,751) but ahead of suicide (30,575), and greater than the annual number of motor vehicle deaths per year (43,501). [Description provided by NIOSH]
• Subjects:
  Coal Coal Mining Geology Mining Occupational Health Safety Software
• Keywords:
  Attributable Fraction Author Keywords: Occupation Bloodborne-pathogens Cancer Cardiovascular-disease Cardiovascular-system-disease Cardiovascular-system-disorders Etiology Kidney-disorders Mortality Mortality-data Mortality-rates Occupational-accidents Occupational-diseases Occupational-exposure Occupational-hazards Pulmonary-system-disorders Respiratory-system-disorders

  More +
• ISSN:
  0271-3586
• Publisher:
  Wiley InterScience
• Document Type:
  Text
• Genre:
  Journal Article
• Place as Subject:
  Ohio ; OSHA Region 5
• CIO:
  National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH)
• Division:
  DSHEFS - Division of Surveillance, Hazard Evaluations, and Field Studies
• Topic:
  Workplace Safety & Health
• Location:
  North America
• Pages in Document:
  461-482
• Volume:
  43
• Issue:
  5
• NIOSHTIC Number:
  nn:20024006
• Citation:
  Am J Ind Med 2003 May; 43(5):461-482
• Contact Point Address:
  Kyle Steenland, Rollins School of Public Health, Emroy University, 1518 Clifton Road, Atlanta, GA 30322
• Email:
  nsteenl@sph.emory.edu
• Federal Fiscal Year:
  2003
• Peer Reviewed:
  True
• Source Full Name:
  American Journal of Industrial Medicine
• Collection(s):
  National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health
• Main Document Checksum:
  urn:sha-512:5512bda4ee805690532475952aea10e6ab9e1d6dddaab5511f3028097d4ceaab56e9ee49707c95123daac611ae03f0d8fa757bb5c39d02a2b769cbc0ba744fac
• Download URL:
  https://stacks.cdc.gov/view/cdc/196030/cdc_196030_DS1.pdf
• File Type:
  [PDF - 190.02 KB ]