Economic Evaluation of Interventions for Occupational Health and Safety

Economic Evaluation of Interventions for Occupational Health and Safety
Author: Emile Tompa
Publisher: Oxford University Press
Total Pages: 312
Release: 2008-08-21
Genre: Health & Fitness
ISBN: 0199533598

Undertaking economic evaluations of workplace-based occupational health and safety interventions can be difficult, reflected by the significant lack of literature, evidence and guidance on the subject. Particular difficulties include: complex labour legislation; differences in the perception of health risks associated with work experiences amongst workplace parties and policy makers; the burden of costs and consequences being borne by different stakeholders in the system; conflicting incentives and priorities between the multiple stakeholders; lack of consensus about what ought to count as a benefit or cost of intervening or not intervening; multiple providers of indemnity and medical care coverage; and industry-specific human resources practices making it difficult to identify all work-related illnesses and injuries. In addition, most health economics methods books are designed for use in a clinical setting, which cannot be adapted for the workplace setting. In the face of such barriers, it is not surprising that few studies of occupational health and safety interventions contain an economic evaluation. This book aims to lay the foundations for a systematic methodology of economic evaluation of workplace interventions, by identifying the main barriers to research of high quality and practical relevance, and proposing a research strategy to remedy these weaknesses. Context chapters provide a wealth of background material ranging from a presentation of the broad conceptualization of work and health, to suggestions for strategies in confronting the dearth of data often experienced by occupational health and safety researchers. They take into account the varying institutional and regulatory approaches in different international jurisdictions. Specific topic chapters delve into the principles and application of economic evaluation methods relevant to this setting: study design, type of analysis, costs, consequences, uncertainty, and equity are all covered, providing guidance on analytical and decision making challenges. The concluding chapter synthesizes the summaries, conclusions, challenges and recommendations from across the book, presenting these in a reference case.

Economic Evaluation of Interventions for Occupational Health and Safety

Economic Evaluation of Interventions for Occupational Health and Safety
Author: Emile Tompa
Publisher: OUP Oxford
Total Pages: 320
Release: 2008-08-21
Genre: Medical
ISBN: 0191559911

Undertaking economic evaluations of occupational health and safety interventions can be difficult for a number of reasons. This is reflected by the significant lack of evidence on their cost-effectiveness. Particular challenges include: complex labour legislation, differences in the perception of health risks associated with work experiences amongst workplace parties and policy makers, costs and consequences being borne by different stakeholders in the system, conflicting incentives and priorities between the multiple stakeholders, lack of consensus about what ought to count as a benefit or cost of intervening or not intervening, multiple providers of indemnity and medical care coverage, and industry-specific human resources practices that make it difficult to identify all work-related illnesses and injuries. Advancement of the application of economic evaluation methods in this literature is further hindered by the fact that most methods books are designed for use in a clinical setting and cannot be easily applied to the workplaces. In the face of such barriers, it is not surprising that few studies of occupational health and safety interventions contain an economic evaluation. This book aims to lay the foundations for a systematic methodology of economic evaluation of workplace interventions, by identifying the main barriers to research of high quality and practical relevance, and proposing a research strategy to overcome them. Context chapters provide a wealth of background material ranging from a presentation of the broad conceptualization of work and health, to suggestions for strategies in confronting the dearth of data often experienced by occupational health and safety researchers. The institutional and regulatory approaches in different international jurisdictions are covered in one of the context chapters. Specific topic chapters delve into the principles and application of economic evaluation methods relevant to workplaces and system level interventions. Study design, type of analysis, costs, consequences, uncertainty, and equity are all covered, providing guidance on meeting many analytical and decision-making challenges. The final chapter synthesizes the summaries, conclusions, challenges and recommendations from across the book, presenting the synthesis as a reference case.

Applied Health Economics for Public Health Practice and Research

Applied Health Economics for Public Health Practice and Research
Author: Rhiannon Tudor Edwards
Publisher: Oxford University Press
Total Pages: 351
Release: 2019-03-14
Genre: Medical
ISBN: 0191057231

In today's world of scare resources, determining the optimal allocation of funds to preventive health care interventions (PHIs) is a challenge. The upfront investments needed must be viewed as long term projects, the benefits of which we will experience in the future. The long term positive change to PHIs from economic investment can be seen across multiple sectors such as health care, education, employment and beyond. Applied Health Economics for Public Health Practice and Research is the fifth in the series of Handbooks in Health Economic Evaluation. It presents new research on health economics methodology and application to the evaluation of public health interventions. Looking at traditional as well as novel methods of economic evaluation, the book covers the history of economics of public health and the economic rationale for government investment in prevention. In addition, it looks at principles of health economics, evidence synthesis, key methods of economic evaluation with accompanying case studies, and much more. Looking to the future, Applied Health Economics for Public Health Practice and Research presents priorities for research in the field of public health economics. It acknowledges the role played by natural environment in promoting better health, and the place of genetics, environment and socioeconomic status in determining population health. Ideal for health economists, public health researchers, local government workers, health care professionals, and those responsible for health policy development. Applied Health Economics for Public Health Practice and Research is an important contribution to the economic discussion of public health and resource allocation.

Promoting Health, Preventing Disease The Economic Case

Promoting Health, Preventing Disease The Economic Case
Author: OECD
Publisher: OECD Publishing
Total Pages: 370
Release: 2015-10-29
Genre:
ISBN: 0335262279

A growing body of evidence from economic studies shows areas where appropriate policies can generate health and other benefits at an affordable cost, sometimes reducing health expenditure and helping to redress health inequalities at the same time.

Costs of Occupational Injuries and Illnesses

Costs of Occupational Injuries and Illnesses
Author: J. Paul Leigh
Publisher: University of Michigan Press
Total Pages: 332
Release: 2000
Genre: Business & Economics
ISBN: 9780472110810

As the debate over health care reform continues, costs have become a critical measure in the many plans and proposals to come before us. Knowing costs is important because it allows comparisons across such disparate health conditions as AIDS, Alzheimer's disease, heart disease, and cancer. This book presents the results of a major study estimating the large and largely overlooked costs of occupational injury and illness--costs as large as those for cancer and over four times the costs of AIDS. The incidence and mortality of occupational injury and illness were assessed by reviewing data from national surveys and applied an attributable-risk-proportion method. Costs were assessed using the human capital method that decomposes costs into direct categories such as medical costs and insurance administration expenses, as well as indirect categories such as lost earnings and lost fringe benefits. The total is estimated to be $155 billion and is likely to be low as it does not include costs associated with pain and suffering or of home care provided by family members. Invaluable as an aid in the analysis of policy issues, Costs of Occupational Injuryand Illness will serve as a resource and reference for economists, policy analysts, public health researchers, insurance administrators, labor unions and labor lawyers, benefits managers, and environmental scientists, among others. J. Paul Leigh is Professor in the School of Medicine, Department of Epidemiology and Preventive Medicine, University of California, Davis. Stephen Markowitz, M.D., is Professor in the Department of Community Health and Social Medicine, City University of New York Medical School. Marianne Fahs is Director of the Health Policy Research Center, Milano Graduate School of Management and Urban Policy, New School University. Philip Landrigan, M.D., is Wise Professor and Chair of the Department of Community Medicine, Mount Sinai Medical Center, New York.

Fundamental Principles of Occupational Health and Safety

Fundamental Principles of Occupational Health and Safety
Author: Benjamin O. Alli
Publisher: International Labor Office
Total Pages: 224
Release: 2008
Genre: Business & Economics
ISBN:

Fundamental principles of occupational health and safety, 2nd edition, is a practical guide to developing effective occupational safety and health (OSH) policies and programmes based on the provisions defined in the "core" ILO standards and instruments concerning OSH. It focuses on the key topics essential to promoting and managing national and enterprise OSH systems and presents a concise overview of the issues involved, together with specific guidelines for policy design, implementation and management at both national and enterprise levels. The operational aspects of meeting health and safety requirements are also covered, with detailed sections on legislation and enforcement, occupational health surveillance, and preventive and protective measures, as well as health education and training. This second edition has been fully revised and updated. It introduces new ILO instruments promoting OSH and new chemical safety information tools, and addresses OSH in the context of globalization and HIV/AIDS and the world of work. The annexes have also been revised to include checklists for preparing national OSH profiles and enterprise policies, selected excerpts from OSH instruments and up-to-date information sources. This book will be useful for legislators and labour inspectors, those involved in policy-making (governments, and employers' and workers' organizations) and those within enterprises who are concerned with the practical implementation of measures to promote and protect the safety and health of workers (managers, supervisors, workers' representatives), as well as academic institutions. Book jacket.

Improving Organizational Interventions for Stress and Well-being

Improving Organizational Interventions for Stress and Well-being
Author: Caroline Biron
Publisher: Routledge
Total Pages: 397
Release: 2012
Genre: Business & Economics
ISBN: 1848720564

This book brings together a number of experts in the field of organizational interventions for stress and well-being, and discusses the importance of process and context issues to the success or failure of such interventions. The book explores how context and process can be incorporated into program evaluation, providing examples of how this can be done, and offers insights that aim to improve working life. Although there is a substantial body of research supporting a causal relationship between working conditions and employee stress and well-being, information on how to develop effective strategies to reduce or eliminate psychosocial risks in the workplace is much more scarce, ambiguous and inconclusive. Indeed, researchers in this field have so far attempted to evaluate the effectiveness of organizational interventions to improve workers' health and well-being, but little attention has been paid to the strategies and processes likely to enhance or undermine interventions. The focus of this volume will help to overcome this qualitative-quantitative divide. This book discusses conceptual developments, practical applications, and methodological issues in the field. As such it is suitable for students, practitioners and researchers in the fields of organizational psychology and clinical psychology, as well as human resources management, health & safety, medicine, occupational health, risk management and public health.

Integrated Occupational Safety and Health Management

Integrated Occupational Safety and Health Management
Author: Seppo Väyrynen
Publisher: Springer
Total Pages: 306
Release: 2014-12-27
Genre: Technology & Engineering
ISBN: 331913180X

Maximizing reader insights into a new movement toward leadership approaches that are collaborated and shared, and which views Occupational Safety and Health (OSH) and performance excellence within the wider examination of leadership relationships and practices, this book argues that these relationships and processes are so central to the establishment of OSH functioning that studying them warrants a broad, cross-disciplinary, multiple method analysis. Exploring the complexity of leadership by the impact that contexts (e.g., national and organizational culture) may have on leaders, this book discusses the related literature, then moves forward to show how a more comprehensive practical approach to Occupational Safety and Health and performance excellence can function on levels pertaining to events, individuals, groups, and organizations. This book proposes that greater clarity in understanding leadership in Occupational Safety and Health and performance excellence can be developed from addressing two fundamental issues. Firstly, how do subunit inputs and processes combine to produce unit-level outcomes and how does leadership affect this process? Secondly, how do the leaders influence the way that individual-level inputs are combined to produce organizational outputs. In these issues, the alternative methodologies that allow precise measurement of organizational outputs in OSH and performance excellence are reviewed. To help readers navigate through the best practices, each chapter contains Question Guidelines, Exercises and Case studies which illustrate the concepts discussed and which serves to highlight the key evidence demonstrating that collaborative leadership can positively affect individual, group, and organizational level outcomes, including organizational OSH and performance excellence.

Approaches to Universal Health Coverage and Occupational Health and Safety for the Informal Workforce in Developing Countries

Approaches to Universal Health Coverage and Occupational Health and Safety for the Informal Workforce in Developing Countries
Author: National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine
Publisher: National Academies Press
Total Pages: 141
Release: 2016-07-06
Genre: Medical
ISBN: 0309374065

Universal health coverage (UHC) has been recognized by the World Health Organization as a key element in reducing social inequality and a critical component of sustainable development and poverty reduction. In most of the world UHC is sought through a combination of public and private-sector health care systems. In most low- and middle-income countries health systems are evolving to increasingly rely on the private sector because the public sector lacks the infrastructure and staff to meet all health care needs. With growing individual assets available for private-sector expenditure, patients often seek better access to technology, staff, and medicines. However, in low-income countries nearly 50 percent of health care financing is out-of-pocket. With the expected increase in the overall fraction of care provided through the private sector, these expenditures can be financially catastrophic for individuals in the informal workforce. In the global workforce of approximately 3 billion people, only 10 to 15 percent are estimated to have some type of access to occupational health services. The informal workforce is growing worldwide, and the degree to which its occupational health needs are satisfied depends on the capabilities of the general health care system. In July 2014, the Institute of Medicine held a workshop on approaches to universal health coverage and occupational health and safety for informal sector workers in developing countries. This report summarizes the presentations and discussions from this workshop. Approaches to Universal Health Coverage and Occupational Health and Safety for the Informal Workforce in Developing Countries identifies best practices and lessons learned for the informal workforce in developing countries in the financing of health care with respect to health care delivery models that are especially suitable to meeting a population's needs for a variety of occupational health issues, including the prevention of or mitigation of hazardous risks and the costs of providing medical and rehabilitation services and other benefits to various types of workers within this population. These experiences and lessons learned may be useful for stakeholders in moving the discussions, policies, and mechanisms forward to increase equitable access to quality health services without financial hardship for the informal workforce.