Nearly 3 million people die annually of work-related accidents and diseases

Nearly three million workers die every year due to work-related accidents and diseases – an increase of more than 5 per cent compared to 2015, according to new International Labour Organization (ILO) research.

Most of these work-related fatalities (totalling 2.6 million deaths) stem from work-related diseases, while work accidents account for an additional 330,000 deaths.

A new ILO report, A Call for Safer and Healthier Working Environments, which was recently launched at the 23rd World Congress on Safety and Health at Work in Sydney, found that circulatory diseases, malignant neoplasms and respiratory diseases rank among the top three causes of work-related death. Together, these three categories contribute more than three-quarters of total work-related mortality.

More specifically, work-related circulatory diseases were the major cause of 912,000 deaths globally, followed by 843,000 work-related malignant neoplasms.

In terms of regions, the Asia and the Pacific region has the highest work-related mortality (63 per cent of the global total), which reflects the fact that the region possesses the highest working population in the world.

In relative terms, work-related fatalities represented 6.71 per cent of all deaths globally. The attributable fraction of work-related deaths is estimated to be highest in Africa (7.39 per cent), followed by Asia and the Pacific (7.13 per cent) and Oceania (6.52 per cent).
In terms of gender breakdown, more men die from work-related incidents (51.4 per 100,000 working age adults) compared to women (17.2 per 100,000), while the overall male mortality rate (108.3 per 100,000 in the labour force) was significantly higher than the female rate (48.4 per 100,000).

In terms of injuries, the report estimates that 395 million workers worldwide sustained non-fatal work injuries.

Agriculture, construction, forestry and fishing and manufacturing are the most hazardous sectors, accounting for 200,000 fatal injuries per year, which represents 63 per cent of all fatal occupational injuries. 

In particular, one-in-three fatal occupational injuries worldwide occur among agricultural workers.

Looking in detail at the most prevalent occupational risk factors, the World Health Organization (WHO) and the ILO developed a joint estimation methodology to produce a WHO/ILO Joint Estimates of the Work-related Burden of Disease and Injury. 
To date, 42 pairs of occupational risk factors and associated health outcomes (namely a specific disease or injury) have been studied. These estimates provide evidence on the relation between occupational exposure to specific risk factors and the subsequent negative health outcomes.

Among the 20 occupational risk factors considered, the one with the largest number of attributable deaths in 2016 was exposure to long working hours (55 hours or more per week), which killed almost 745,000 people, followed by exposure to occupational particulate matter, gases and fumes with over 450,000 associated deaths, and thirdly occupational injuries with over 363,000 deaths.

The WHO and ILO also estimated a total of 90.22 million disability-adjusted life years (DALYs) were attributable to the 42 specific pairs of occupational risk factors and health outcomes (where one DALY represents the loss of the equivalent of one year of full health).

Occupational injuries were responsible for the largest number of DALYs lost (26.44 million), followed by exposure to long working hours (23.26 million) and occupational ergonomic factors (12.27 million).

In line with the ILO global estimates discussed above, the burden of specific occupational risk factors considered by the WHO/ILO joint estimates show varying evolution over time. For example, the rate of trachea, bronchus and lung cancers attributable to occupational exposure to chromium doubled between 2000 and 2016. 

Mesothelioma attributable to asbestos exposure has risen by 40 per cent, while the rate of non-melanoma skin cancer increased by over 37 per cent between 2000 and 2020. On the other hand, deaths due to exposure to asthmagens and particulate matter, gases, and fumes decreased by over 20 per cent.