Economic Decisions on Proposed Work Environmental Studies – a Theory for Cost and Value of Information

Abstract

Assessment studies of occupational exposures are retrospectively evaluated based on their achieved statistical efficiency and/or their imposed costs. However, any decision on the performance of such studies strongly requires an economic evaluation in advance. The economic evaluation of proposed work environmental studies needs, in turn, access to information on the socio-economic impacts of occupational exposures. The present article aims to help policy makers in their decisions on proposed work environmental studies by introducing a cost-value approach to the information to be produced during the studies. The cost-value approach is not exposed to subjective judgements, as in the approach of "willingness to pay", nor to consideration of invaluable statistical efficiency as "output", as in exposure assessment studies. The work environmental study investigated in this article contained three different groups of occupational exposures that caused sickness absences and impairments at work in a Swedish company, Sandvik Materials Technology. The results show that the suggested study would be acceptable to the policy makers in the company, as its estimated value was strictly greater than its estimated costs.

Marginal socio-economic effects of an employer’s efforts to improve the work environment

“…Most of them were involved with manufacturing and were sufficient qualified for and experienced in their tasks. Some of the collected data have been used previously in other studies [ 1 , 2 , 17 ]. The questionnaire, which was distributed to the workers by the SMT safety unit during April 2015, was based on the Harvard questionnaire ( http://www.hcp.med.harvard.edu/hpq/ftpdir/absenteeism%20presenteeism%20scoring%20050107.pdf ), ( http://www.hcp.med.harvard.edu/hpq/ftpdir/survey_clinical_7day.pdf ), knowledge of Swedish workplaces and the Swedish labour market, and findings from the literature.…”

“…The costs were assessed in the basis of the registered illness-related lost working hours, the workers’ judgements about their working hours they worked at reduced work ability due to the environmental failures at the workplace, the national median wages, the rate of work interdependence, and the rate of unemployment and monopsony power [ 1 ]. Informal work impairments , which have previously been shown to be the largest source of the cost of work-related disorders in SMT [ 1 , 17 ]. The company had registered data on the workers worked with reduced work ability in terms of part-time working, but not about the hours workers had been at work even though they, according to their health state, should had stayed at home.…”

“…Informal work impairments , which have previously been shown to be the largest source of the cost of work-related disorders in SMT [ 1 , 17 ]. The company had registered data on the workers worked with reduced work ability in terms of part-time working, but not about the hours workers had been at work even though they, according to their health state, should had stayed at home.…”

“…Everything from optimization of the physical environment at the workplace for different work functions up to the improvement of ergonomic and psychosocial working conditions can increase workers’ health and well-being and thereby the company’s sustainability and future benefits. WHP intervention programmes have been shown to result in reduced stress and physical strain [ 14 ], less sick leave, improved psychosocial well-being and work satisfaction [ 15 ], better social support from supervisors and colleagues [ 16 ], and also reduced cost for work-related disorders [ 1 , 17 ]. Thus, there are many factors motivating employers to implement and integrate WHP programmes.…”

“…The social costs of work-related disorders, the socio-economic impacts of work environmental risk factors, and even the economic value of the information to be produced during proposed work environmental studies have recently been assessed using appropriate economic theories and methodologies [ 1 , 2 , 17 ]. However, the employer’s efforts and their socio-economic consequences have not yet been assessed in the same manner.…”