ECONOMICS

Inputs: Economic Factors

Many economic factors may affect work and workplace characteristics that in turn affect the risk of injury and illness. Examples of some of these factors are listed below. Some of these economic factors may be difficult to alter, but their health and safety consequences can often be addressed through health and safety measures. NIOSH and others are researching the impact of some of these factors. The following examples of some of the economic factors that affect worker safety and health include links to publications that illustrate their role. Note that the literature on some of these factors may be much more extensive and that the references given here are offered only as examples.

Market Conditions

Financial or Competitive Pressures: Companies that come under severe financial or competitive pressures may be tempted to save money in the short run by reducing attention to worker safety and health, even in cases where it improves economic results in the medium to long run. For example, rising fuel and energy costs may force companies, particularly small- to medium-sized companies, to divert monies that otherwise would be targeted for safety and health improvements to pay for rising operating costs in order to stay in business. Rising healthcare costs also may result in employers reducing or eliminating their contributions to worker healthcare plans.

• Here it comes: defined contribution health care
  Benefits Quarterly 2011. 27, First Quarter:42-48.

Workforce Demographics

Aging Workers: The demographics of the working population have been changing dramatically. Many workers continue to work past “normal” retirement age by choice or necessity. The overall aging of the working U.S. population may result in higher risks of occupational injury and illness.

• NIOSH update: aging workers at higher risk of death, severe injury, conference report suggests ways to keep workers healthy and productive
• Age awareness training for miners
  DHHS NIOSH Publication 2008-133

Non-English Speaking Workers: There are many immigrant and minority workers whose primary language is not English and who therefore may be less effectively trained and less aware of hazards and safe practices.

• Health and safety education for workers with low-literacy or limited-English skills
  Am J Ind Med 1992. 22:751-765.
• Safety implications of low-English proficiency among migrant construction site operatives
  Int J Project Manag 2006. 24:446-452.

Employment Arrangements and Work Schedules

Unpaid Family Workers: Small agricultural operations may employ unpaid family workers (both young and old) to work on the farm, operate machinery or other equipment, or take care of livestock. This may result in increased injuries and illnesses. Long seasonal hours during planting and harvesting also may result in increased injuries.

• Factors affecting children's participation and amount of labor on family farms
  J Safety Research 2004. 35:391–401.

24-7 Production Schedules: Many facilities in manufacturing, mining, chemical processing, and health care keep operations open 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. Consequently, more individuals work on rotating or permanent shifts across these hours. Often, this results in worker fatigue and sleep loss and may lead to increased incidence of injuries and illnesses.

• Shift work, safety, and aging
  Chronobiology International 2008. 25:183-198.
• Nonstandard shift schedules and the risk of job-related injuries
  Scand J of Work, Environ & Health 2006. 32:232-240.

Part-time Work: Individuals who work part-time, intermittently, or under contract are not offered the same benefits as those enjoyed by full-time workers and therefore may have to work long hours or at multiple jobs.

• Associations between temporary employment and occupational injury: what are the mechanisms?
  Occup Environ Med 2006. 63(6):416-421.
• Temporary employment and health: a review
  Int J Epidemiol 2005. 34:610–22.
• Psychosocial factors and work related sickness absence among permanent and non-permanent employees
  J Epidemiol Comm Health 2004. 58:870–6.
• Temporary employment and risk of overall and cause-specific mortality
  Am J Epidemiol 2003.; 158:663–8.

Productivity Incentives: Some workers in construction, agriculture, and other sectors are paid by the job or in proportion to the quantity of their work output and therefore may be tempted to cut corners on safety to get the job done quickly.

• Piecework, musculoskeletal pain and the impact of workplace psychosocial factors
  Occup Med (Lond) 2007. 57(6):430-7. Epub 2007 Jun 18.
• Health problems of women employed in jobs involving psychological and ergonomic stressors: the case of garment workers in Québec
  Women Health. 1992;18(3):49-65.

Emerging Technologies and Management Trends

Nanotechnology: New technologies may adversely affect worker safety and health in unknown ways. For example, the rapid growth of nanotechnology exposes workers to engineered nano-particles whose effect on worker health has not yet been fully understood.

• Approaches to safe nanotechnology: managing the health and safety concerns associated with engineered nanomaterials
  DHHS (NIOSH) Publication 2009-125
  Additional publications can be found on the Nanotechnology Guidance and Publications page.

New Security Measures: Implementation of security measures at airports, border crossings, and port facilities may raise worker stress levels and expose workers to new risks resulting from new technology and major staffing changes.

• Airport full-body screening: what is the risk?
  Arch Intern Med. 2011 Mar 28.
• Impact of Homeland Security Alert level on calls to a law enforcement peer support hotline
  Int J Emerg Ment Health 2007. 9(4):253-7.

Production Models: Just-in-Time and Lean Manufacturing are business models that attempt to minimize production wastes such as excessive inventory, unneeded transport or processing, overproduction, and product defects. Questions have been posed about the possibility that pressures created through close coordination of production tasks and deliveries might affect worker safety and health. In addition, the nature of job design and training in these systems could also affect worker safety and health positively or negatively.

• Lean job design and musculoskeletal disorder risk: a two plant comparison
  Human Factors and Ergonomics in Manufacturing 2009. 19(4):279-293.
• The impact of lean production and related new systems of work organization on worker health
  J Occup Health Psychol 1999. 4(2):108-30.