ABSTRACT
Workplace accidents are the leading cause of injury, morbidity, and mortality among industrial workers, resulting in lost working hours, medical treatment, restriction of work or incapacitation, and in the worst case, death. The focus of this chapter is on nonfatal accidents. The overall human, social, and fi nancial toll of traumatic occupational injuries is enormous, rivaling the social burden imposed by such health threats as cancer, HIV, and CHD. The direct costs (lost wages, medical, rehabilitation and insurance costs, production loss) of occupational injuries in the industrially developing countries remain elusive. Leigh et al. (1999) estimated around 16 million injuries every year, with 2 million moderate to serious injuries on the Indian subcontinent. Indirect costs, such as pain and suffering by workers and family members, are very evident, but a major limitation in dealing with this negative scenario is the inappropriate accounting of the accident events and the potential risks for work-related injuries.
