Documents Takala, Jukka 13 results

"BACKGROUND: Work-related mortality is a relatively new concept which aims to widen occupational health and safety; to take into account not only recognized fatal occupational accidents and diseases but also other work-related deaths. Few countries in the world have a register for work-related diseases.
METHODS: Estimates are calculated using baseline world mortality scenarios of all diseases for the year 2000 and attributable fractions made for work-related diseases in Finland, as adjusted.
RESULTS: It is estimated that about 2 million work-related deaths take place annually. Men suffer two thirds of those deaths. The biggest groups of work-related diseases are cancers, circulatory diseases and communicable diseases.
CONCLUSIONS: Information about work-related diseases is needed for prevention, as people in developed countries are working longer, and the age of retirement is being raised in many countries. As a result, workers are being exposed to different kinds of substances and working conditions for a longer time. In developing countries, work exposures may already start in infancy. Due to industrialization, workers in developing countries are facing new conditions with a lack of relevant knowledge and skills. With the help of information, nations can direct resources and skills for appropriate purposes such as regulatory measures on health and safety at work."

"This working paper presents arguments for a stronger policy to eradicate occupational cancer in Europe and globally. The cancer epidemic is a major public health concern all over the world. There is an increasing awareness of the role of working conditions as a central determinant of social inequalities with regard to cancer.
The working paper presents a consistent estimation of the burden calculated on the basis of established exposures. It also summarises the basic principles of effective prevention and calls for systematic action on the part of the various stakeholders. It assumes that occupational cancers are eliminable and that prevention could save many workers' lives and contribute considerably to the public health of European citizens."

" ... The ILO firmly believes that work-related accidents and ill-health can and indeed must be prevented, and that action is needed at international, regional, national and enterprise levels to achieve this. Yet, globally, the statistics appear to show an increasing trend in occupational accidents and diseases. As the ILO Director-General said when referring to the Decent Work Agenda, “Decent Work must be Safe Work, and we are a long way from achieving that goal”. The protection of workers against injury and disease has always been a key issue forthe ILO since it was founded in 1919, and many of its activities have been directed to that end. Many Conventions, Recommendations and other instruments on occupational safety and health (OSH) have been adopted over the years, and these have helped to improve working conditions throughout the world. This impetus has been maintained, and recent years have seen both theadoption of a Global Strategy for OSH, which seeks to integrate and enhance the ILO's activities in this area, and the development of a new promotional framework for OSH, intended for adoption as a Convention in 2006. This report provides an overview of the most recent estimates of occupational and work-related accidents and diseases, world-wide, some of the causes for recent changes and what the ILO and its member States are doing to improve conditions in the workplace for the millions who are at risk from injury. ..."
(From the introduction)

"Information of occupational accidents is not standardized worldwide. Especially, developing countries do not have reliable information on their occupational accidents due to lack of proper recording and notification systems. The number of accidents is under-reported but figures are still used as a baseline for occupational safety work. In this paper global estimates of occupational accidents are presented for 175 countries. These estimates are based on figures from selected countries in eight different regions. Global estimates help to compare different countries and regions to each other to detect improvements in safety and safety work. In 1998 the average estimated number of fatal occupational accidents was 350000 and there were 264 million non-fatal accidents. Global estimates are needed to guide national policies and decision-making."

"Objective: This paper reviews the present indicators, trends, and recent strategies to tackle major global and European problems in safety and health at work.Methods: We reviewed employment figures, mortality rates, occupational burden of disease and injuries, reported accidents, surveys on self-reported occupational illnesses and injuries, attributable fractions, and the most recent information on the problems from published papers, documents, and electronic data sources of international organizations, European institutions/agencies, and public websites. We identified and analyzed programs and strategies to reduce the work-related negative outcomes at various levels.Results: Work-related illnesses that have a long latency period and are linked to ageing are clearly on the increase, while the number of occupational accidents has gone down in industrialized countries thanks to prevention and structural changes. We have estimated that globally there are 2.3 million deaths annually for reasons attributed to work. We refer to prevention methods as a “toolbox” and categorize the following as “individual tools”: legislation and enforcement, information on the existing state of problems and capacities (profile), knowledge of solutions and good practices, communication and promotion to increase awareness, and collaboration and networking for exchange of good practice. Global, regional, national, and sectoral strategies and systems cover these issues, reflecting their respective priorities.Conclusion: In the present political situation and serious economic downturn, legal measures need to be supplemented with economic justification and convincing arguments to reduce corner-cutting and avoid long-term disabilities, premature retirement, and corporate closures due to a poor work environment."

"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."

"This report provides an update to the global estimates of occupational accidents and work-related diseases that were presented during the XX World Congress on Safety and Health at Work 2014 at Frankfurt. These updated figures were released during the XXI World Congress held in Singapore on 3-6 Sep 2017, as agreed under the Memorandum of Understanding between the International Labour Organization (ILO) and the Workplace Safety and Health (WSH) Institute, Singapore. These estimates were worked out by a team comprising experts from the Ministry of Health and Social Affairs in Finland and Workplace Safety and Health Institute of the Ministry of Manpower in Singapore. The methodology used in this update was the same as for the 2014 study so as to keep the estimated numbers comparable. In the 2014 study, estimates were made based on the World Health Organization (WHO) regions. In addition to the WHO classification, estimates were also made based on the United Nations (UN) geographical regions. As there was under-estimation on the number of respiratory disease cases in 2014, new attributable fractions (AF) were used to estimate the number of respiratory cases caused by Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease (COPD) and Asthma. We estimated 2.78 million deaths occurring annually across the countries being attributed to work, higher than the 2.33 million deaths estimated in 2014. Work-related mortality accounted for 5% of the global total deaths (based on the Global Burden of Disease Study 2015). The biggest share of work-related mortality came from work-related diseases which accounted for 2.4 million (86.3%) of the total estimated deaths. Fatal accidents accounted for the remaining 13.7% ..."

"Recent estimates demonstrated that occupational cancer accounted for 27% of the 2.4 million deaths due to work-related diseases.1–3 In numerical terms, this estimate means that the number of deaths attributable to occupational cancer annually increased from 666 000 deaths in 2011 to 742 000 deaths in 2015.2 3 This increase could be explained by different variables such as the evidence on new carcinogens, the methods of estimation, changes in the industry distribution of workers and the growing and ageing of the population. The International Labour Organization (ILO) released global data showing this increase in the number of fatal work-related cancers that occur every year,3 4 whereas, in the European Union (EU) alone, occupational cancer was responsible for 102 500 deaths in 2011 and 106 300 in 2015.2–5 ..."

"Asbestos has been used for thousands of years but only at a large industrial scale for about 100–150 years. The first identified disease was asbestosis, a type of incurable pneumoconiosis caused by asbestos dust and fibres. The latest estimate of global number of asbestosis deaths from the Global Burden of Disease estimate 2016 is 3495. Asbestos-caused cancer was identified in the late 1930's but despite today's overwhelming evidence of the strong carcinogenicity of all asbestos types, including chrysotile, it is still widely used globally. Various estimates have been made over time including those of World Health Organization and International Labour Organization: 107,000–112,000 deaths. Present estimates are much higher. Objective: This article summarizes the special edition of this Journal related to asbestos and key aspects of the past and present of the asbestos problem globally. The objective is to collect and provide the latest evidence of the magnitude of asbestos-related diseases and to provide the present best data for revitalizing the International Labor Organization/World Health Organization Joint Program on Asbestos-related Diseases. Methods: Documentation on asbestos-related diseases, their recognition, reporting, compensation and prevention efforts were examined, in particular from the regulatory and prevention point of view. Estimated global numbers of incidence and mortality of asbestos-related diseases were examined. Results: Asbestos causes an estimated 255,000 deaths (243,223–260,029) annually according to latest knowledge, of which work-related exposures are responsible for 233,000 deaths (222,322–242,802). In the European Union, United States of America and in other high income economies (World Health Organization regional classification) the direct costs for sickness, early retirement and death, including production losses, have been estimated to be very high; in the Western European countries and European Union, and equivalent of 0.70% of the Gross Domestic Product or 114 × 109 United States Dollars. Intangible costs could be much higher. When applying the Value of Statistical Life of 4 million EUR per cancer death used by the European Commission, we arrived at 410 × 109 United States Dollars loss related to occupational cancer and 340 × 109 related to asbestos exposure at work, while the human suffering and loss of life is impossible to quantify. The numbers and costs are increasing practically in every country and region in the world. Asbestos has been banned in 55 countries but is used widely today; some 2,030,000 tons consumed annually according to the latest available consumption data. Every 20 tons of asbestos produced and consumed kills a person somewhere in the world. Buying 1 kg of asbestos powder, e.g., in Asia, costs 0.38 United States Dollars, and 20 tons would cost in such retail market 7600 United States Dollars. Conclusions: Present efforts to eliminate this man-made problem, in fact an epidemiological disaster, and preventing exposures leading to it are insufficient in most countries in the world. Applying programs and policies, such as those for the elimination of all kind of asbestos use—that is banning of new asbestos use and tight control and management of existing structures containing asbestos—need revision and resources. The International Labor Organization/World Health Organization Joint Program for the Elimination of Asbestos-Related Diseases needs to be revitalized. Exposure limits do not protect properly against cancer but for asbestos removal and equivalent exposure elimination work, we propose a limit value of 1000 fibres/m3."