The National Academies Press

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From page 36... ... 36 5.1 Introduction This chapter provides cost estimates for injuries, deaths, absenteeism, workers' compensation, and federal government disability programs that demonstrate the distribution of health costs among individuals, employers, and society. The chapter highlights areas in which health costs are elevated and potential areas transit workers and agencies can target to improve health outcomes and costs. Read the entire page →
From page 37... ... Additional Costs to Individuals, Employers, and Society 37 workers was roughly similar to that of urban transit systems workers, at 5.80 per 100 FTE workers. However, during the same period, the annual number of cases and annual incidence rates for interurban and rural bus transportation workers showed greater variation than did the cases and incidence rates among urban transit workers (BLS 2019b) Read the entire page →
From page 38... ... 38 Improving the Health and Safety of Transit Workers with Corresponding Impacts on the Bottom Line Estimates of willingness to pay are derived from responses in real markets based on consumer purchase or employment decisions (revealed preferences) , or in hypothetical markets (stated preferences) Read the entire page →
From page 39... ... Additional Costs to Individuals, Employers, and Society 39 of transit workers represents an excess cost of $61.17 million. Given the higher prevalence of chronic conditions as discussed in Chapter 4, it also is interesting to consider that post- retirement or industry departure, fatality rates for transit workers might continue to be higher than those of the general public. Read the entire page →
From page 40... ... 40 Improving the Health and Safety of Transit Workers with Corresponding Impacts on the Bottom Line As Table 13 shows, the estimated 5-year cost of injuries for transit workers is $853.77 million. The difference in cost for injuries for transit workers, based on their higher rates of injury compared to the general population, is $403.28 million. Read the entire page →
From page 41... ... Additional Costs to Individuals, Employers, and Society 41 which combines medical expenses and indirect costs such as discounted earnings and the present value of lost household production. Leigh's injury estimates are derived from medical costs and indirect costs including discounted earnings, fringe benefits, and home production (Leigh 2011) Read the entire page →
From page 42... ... 42 Improving the Health and Safety of Transit Workers with Corresponding Impacts on the Bottom Line transit and ground passenger transportation (ranked sixth) and urban transit systems (ranked seventh) Read the entire page →
From page 43... ... Additional Costs to Individuals, Employers, and Society 43 lost worktime for transit workers at the rate estimated for transit workers (1.5%) and at the rate estimated for general workers (1.4%) Read the entire page →
From page 44... ... 44 Improving the Health and Safety of Transit Workers with Corresponding Impacts on the Bottom Line (2002) estimated health-related lost productive time due to absenteeism and presenteeism cost employers $225.8 billion in 2012, or $1,685 per employee annually. Read the entire page →
From page 45... ... Additional Costs to Individuals, Employers, and Society 45 paid by employers. Using the premium method, the cost of workers' compensation is calculated as the product of the mean hourly wage (weighted average of the mean hourly wage for urban transit systems and interurban and rural bus transportation workers) Read the entire page →
From page 46... ... 46 Improving the Health and Safety of Transit Workers with Corresponding Impacts on the Bottom Line The second method estimates workers' compensation costs through beneficiary claims. Using Washington State Fund claims data. Read the entire page →
From page 47... ... Additional Costs to Individuals, Employers, and Society 47 5.3.3 Federal Disability Programs Workers whose illnesses prevent their full participation in the workforce may become eligible for safety net programs. Two of the larger federal programs covering disability benefits are SSDI and SSI. Read the entire page →
From page 48... ... 48 Improving the Health and Safety of Transit Workers with Corresponding Impacts on the Bottom Line 5.3.3.3 Estimating Costs for SSDI and SSI Estimates for the costs of SSDI and SSI were calculated separately, but a similar method was used for both, and the results were similar. To determine the cost of SSDI, the project team estimated the percentage of recipients who were or had been in the transit worker industry and multiplied that population by the average annual benefit. Read the entire page →
From page 49... ... Additional Costs to Individuals, Employers, and Society 49 * Rounding decisions at each step can affect the final number, but for purposes of estimation the differences are fairly minor. Read the entire page →
From page 50... ... 50 Improving the Health and Safety of Transit Workers with Corresponding Impacts on the Bottom Line To calculate excess and general population disability costs, the disability prevalence ratios of transit workers were compared to those of the general population. Statistics from the U.S. Read the entire page →
From page 51... ... Additional Costs to Individuals, Employers, and Society 51 disability related to the musculoskeletal system and connective tissue. Given the prevalence of mental health and musculoskeletal disorders in transit workers, these findings illustrate the potential societal impacts related to federal resources. Read the entire page →
From page 52... ... 52 Improving the Health and Safety of Transit Workers with Corresponding Impacts on the Bottom Line in this chapter are not an exhaustive list of employer and societal costs, and many additional costs cannot be itemized, such as quality of service. Costs presented are not additive, and the cost categories overlap. Read the entire page →

From page 36...

... 36 5.1 Introduction This chapter provides cost estimates for injuries, deaths, absenteeism, workers' compensation, and federal government disability programs that demonstrate the distribution of health costs among individuals, employers, and society. The chapter highlights areas in which health costs are elevated and potential areas transit workers and agencies can target to improve health outcomes and costs.