IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/gam/jijerp/v20y2023i13p6258-d1183513.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Trending Occupational Fatalities and Injuries: An Assessment of Projected Climate Change Related Impacts in the United States since 1992

Author

Listed:
  • Charmaine Mullins-Jaime

    (Department of Built Environment, Bailey College of Engineering & Technology, Indiana State University, Terre Haute, IN 47809, USA)

Abstract

Background: Some impacts of climate change that are expected to affect the American workforce are rising temperatures, greater prevalence of wildland fires, increase in Lyme disease, and exposure to insecticides. The purpose of this study was to assess how fatal and non-fatal occupational injuries due to environmental heat, forest/brush fires, Lyme disease, and exposure to insecticides have changed over time in the United States and if there were any significant relationships between national occupational injury/illness data and national temperature trends. Methods: Linear regression models assessed fatal and non-fatal injuries/illnesses since 1992 by both the frequency of incidents and the proportion of total incidents and the effects of national average temperatures. Results: There were significant increases in occupational fatalities and illnesses due to exposure to environmental heat and national average annual temperatures were predictive of heat exposure fatalities and illnesses. Conclusion: Heat exposure is an occupational hazard that must be managed carefully in the coming years. Organizations will need to take more aggressive heat exposure control measures as temperatures continue to rise and remain hotter for longer periods during the year. While not currently showing increasing trends on a national scale, the prevalence of occupational incidents due to forest/brush fires, Lyme disease, and insecticides should be monitored as the United States experiences more of the projected impacts of climate change.

Suggested Citation

  • Charmaine Mullins-Jaime, 2023. "Trending Occupational Fatalities and Injuries: An Assessment of Projected Climate Change Related Impacts in the United States since 1992," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 20(13), pages 1-14, June.
    • Handle: RePEc:gam:jijerp:v:20:y:2023:i:13:p:6258-:d:1183513
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/1660-4601/20/13/6258/pdf
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/1660-4601/20/13/6258/
    Download Restriction: no
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Marcus Dillender, 2021. "Climate Change and Occupational Health: Are There Limits to Our Ability to Adapt?," Journal of Human Resources, University of Wisconsin Press, vol. 56(1), pages 184-224.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Andrew Ireland & David Johnston & Rachel Knott, 2024. "Impacts of Extreme Heat on Labor Force Dynamics," Papers 2024-01, Centre for Health Economics, Monash University.
    2. Jamie Mullins & Corey White, 2019. "Does Access to Health Care Mitigate Environmental Damages?," Working Papers 1905, California Polytechnic State University, Department of Economics.
    3. Picchio, Matteo & van Ours, Jan C., 2024. "The impact of high temperatures on performance in work-related activities," Labour Economics, Elsevier, vol. 87(C).
    4. Molitor, David & White, Corey, 2024. "Do cities mitigate or exacerbate environmental damages to health?," Regional Science and Urban Economics, Elsevier, vol. 107(C).
    5. Chen, Guifu & Wei, Boyu, 2024. "Low-carbon city pilots and site selection for migrant employment: Evidence from China," Energy Economics, Elsevier, vol. 131(C).
    6. Giuliano Masiero & Fabrizio Mazzonna & Michael Santarossa, 2022. "The effect of absolute versus relative temperature on health and the role of social care," Health Economics, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 31(6), pages 1228-1248, June.
    7. Mario Lackner & Hendrik Sonnabend, 2024. "When performance melts away: Heat causes mental errors in high-stakes competitions," Economics working papers 2024-11, Department of Economics, Johannes Kepler University Linz, Austria.
    8. Park, R. Jisung & Pankratz, Nora & Behrer, A. Patrick, 2021. "Temperature, Workplace Safety, and Labor Market Inequality," IZA Discussion Papers 14560, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA).
    9. Mattia Filomena & Matteo Picchio & Alessia Lo Turco, 2024. "Trade exposure, immigrants and workplace injuries," Working Papers 488, Universita' Politecnica delle Marche (I), Dipartimento di Scienze Economiche e Sociali.
    10. Mullins, Jamie T. & White, Corey, 2020. "Can access to health care mitigate the effects of temperature on mortality?," Journal of Public Economics, Elsevier, vol. 191(C).
    11. Jelnov, Pavel, 2021. "Sunset Long Shadows: Time, Crime, and Perception of Change," IZA Discussion Papers 14770, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA).
    12. Katharina Drescher & Benedikt Janzen, 2023. "When Weather Wounds Workers: The Impact of Temperature on Workplace Accidents," Working Papers 226, Bavarian Graduate Program in Economics (BGPE).

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:gam:jijerp:v:20:y:2023:i:13:p:6258-:d:1183513. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: MDPI Indexing Manager (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://www.mdpi.com .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.