ECONOMIC-ASSESSMENT OF OCCUPATIONAL INJURIES IN FURNITURE INDUSTRIES

A total of 39 furniture manufacturing firms in Norway and Sweden were sampled for a study of occupational accidents. All injuries occurring in the course of one year were investigated (n=246) and accident costs were calculated. The firms studied covered 20% of the total number of employees in this industry. The main objective of this paper is to compare two models for costing accidents: the market-pricing model and the spare capacity model. The latter was devised in pursuit of the project aims. In-plant costs calculated with the spare-capacity model were two to five times those arrived at using the market-pricing model. The spare-capacity model most realistically reflected true costs. When the conventional market-pricing model was used, financial losses tended to be underestimated. A substantial portion of the total costs was borne by other than the employing firms.