High cost of missed work days: billions of dollars lost to illness and injury.(Front Line)(Brief article)

Lost work days due to illness and injury carry total annual costs of nearly $63 billion in lost work and productivity, reports a study in the July Journal of Occupational and Environmental Medicine.

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Using data from a 2003 national health survey, Abdiaziz Yassin, Ph.D., of the U.S. Occupational Safety and Health Administration estimated the rates and costs of lost work and lost productivity caused by illness or injury among workers in private industry in the United States.

On average, U.S. industrial workers had 8.39 lost work days per year. This included an average of 5.62 "bed days"--days of restricted activity or disability, including hospital days. Lower-income workers had more lost work days, as did workers reporting declines in health over the past year. Smokers averaged about two additional lost work days and two additional bed days per year compared to nonsmokers.

A small but significant percentage of workers had very high numbers of lost work days: 2.9 percent had 30 or more lost work days, while 1.3 percent had 30 or more bed days. Women had more lost work days and lost bed days than men. The gender difference in lost work days was reduced after adjustment for other factors, but the difference in lost bed days remained significant.

The total cost of lost work and lost productivity due to lost work days was estimated at $63 billion per year (in 2003 dollars).

Average earnings and productivity losses per year were $1,560 per worker. Although women had more lost work days and bed days, men had greater earnings losses, reflecting the male-female wage differential.

Although occupational injuries and illnesses have declined in recent years, lost work time remains an important and costly problem for American employers. Few previous studies have estimated the annual costs associated with lost work and bed days, reflecting wage and productivity losses because of injury or illness.