Occupational injury costs and alternative employment in construction trades.

OBJECTIVE

To present the costs of fatal and non-fatal days-away-from-work injuries in 50 construction occupations. Our results also provide indirect evidence on the cost exposure of alternative construction workers such as independent contractors, on-call or day labor, contract workers, and temporary workers.

METHODS

We combine data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics on average annual incidence from 2000 to 2002 with updated per-case costs from an existing cost model for occupational injuries. The Current Population Survey provides data on the percentage of alternative construction workers.

RESULTS

Construction laborers and carpenters were the two costliest occupations, with 40% of the industry's injury costs. The 10 costliest construction occupations also have a high percentage of alternative workers.

CONCLUSIONS

The construction industry has both a high rate of alternative employment and high costs of work injury. Alternative workers, often lacking workers' compensation, are especially exposed to injury costs.