Guest guest Posted December 1, 2010 Report Share Posted December 1, 2010 These are only on-the-job acquired respiratory hypersensitivities, with occupational asthma estimated to be under-reported by one-third. http://www.hse.gov.uk/research/rrpdf/rr474.pdf Summary of Key Findings The HSE commissioned Metroeconomica Limited, the Institute of Occupational Medicine (IOM), and the University of Aberdeen to develop detailed estimates of the cost of occupational asthma (OA) in Great Britain. Key results are presented below. • <snip> • Allowing for the fact that the number of new cases of OA diagnosed in 2003 is under-reported by up to one-third, the total lifetime costs to society could be as high as £95.6 to £133.5 million. • The estimated total lifetime costs to society are made up of costs incurred by the individual, employers and the state (‘taxpayers’). The largest cost burden falls on the individual worker (who incurs about 49% of total costs), followed very closely by taxpayers (who incur about 47% of total costs). In contrast, employers of workers diagnosed with OA in 2003 only incur about 4% of total costs. • There appears, therefore, to be little incentive for employers to reduce the incidence of new cases of OA in Great Britain, despite the fact that significant benefits would accrue to the rest of society: benefits to the state and employees could be as high as £69.7 and £96.3 million over the lifetime of those workers diagnosed with the disease in 2003. • This pattern of cost burdens suggests that employers are imposing a significant ‘external’ cost on the rest of society. Steve Temes Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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