"Occupational diseases are a widely studied area. Work-related diseases covering also occupational diseases are multi-factorial diseases among a working population. Work-related diseases are estimated to be a much bigger problem than expected. It is important to estimate the number of work-related diseases because they have a heavy impact on worker, enterprise and society. In addition to the physical and psychosocial effects, the costs of work-related diseases are considerable Estimates have been calculated using global regional estimates of disease mortality and adjusted attributable fractions produced for work-related diseases in Finland. The estimated number of fatal work-related diseases has remained the same during the two-year period, being about 2 million at the global level. However, changes have been noticed inside the regions associated with the proportion of fatal work-related disease types. The most usual fatal work-related disease groups are cancers (25%), circulatory diseases (21%) and communicable diseases (28%). Though estimates of fatal work-related diseases have some limitations, they are needed for prevention. Changes in social structure such as corporations merging, outsourcing and production flow in developing countries affect the number of occupational accidents and work-related diseases. Both at national and company level investments in safety and health can decrease the number of work-related diseases. In addition they can increase e.g. employees' job satisfaction, commitment to the company and productivity."

Support: Digital;Paper