Boden Leslie I
Department of Environmental Health, Boston University School of Public Health, Boston, MA 02118, USA.
Ann N Y Acad Sci. 2006 Sep;1076:858-70. doi: 10.1196/annals.1371.011.
Recent labor economics studies in the United States and Canada have demonstrated that occupational injuries and illnesses often lead to substantial lost earnings for workers and their families. Other studies have shown substantial long-term lost earnings attributable to large-scale layoffs, where no health impairment has taken place. This article uses evidence from these and other studies of apparently different situations to draw inferences about how managers' actions and public policy choices can affect the costs of occupational injuries and illnesses. Although primary prevention remains the policy of choice, reduction in the impact of workplace injuries and illnesses can decrease the costs of these events and can provide substantial benefits. This article proposes two hypotheses and discusses the evidence for each: (a) Loss of the job held at the onset of illness or injury increases time off work and exacerbates workers' lost earnings. (b) Workers' losses may be substantially reduced by policies that encourage employers to rehire people recovering from or disabled by workplace injuries and illnesses.
美国和加拿大近期的劳动经济学研究表明，职业伤害和疾病往往会给工人及其家庭带来可观的收入损失。其他研究显示，大规模裁员也会导致可观的长期收入损失，而在此过程中并未出现健康损害情况。本文利用这些研究以及其他关于明显不同情况的研究证据，来推断管理者的行为和公共政策选择如何能够影响职业伤害和疾病的成本。虽然一级预防仍是首选政策，但减少工作场所伤害和疾病的影响可以降低这些事件的成本，并能带来可观的益处。本文提出两个假设并讨论了各自的证据：（a）在患病或受伤之初失去工作会增加休假时间，并加剧工人的收入损失。（b）鼓励雇主重新雇佣从工作场所伤害和疾病中康复或致残的人的政策，可能会大幅减少工人的损失。
