The workplace is becoming more hazardous, according to the federal Department of Labor's Bureau of Labor Statistics. The Bureau says 190,000 workers suffered new illnesses for the first time during 1987, an increase of 28% over the 136,900 new cases of job-related illness reported in 1986. Most of these illnesses involve noise-related hearing loss, skin diseases [presumably related to chemical exposures], and repetitive motion ailments. A total of 3,400 workers were killed on the job during 1987, and nearly six million (5,843,100) were injured on the job; half the injuries were so severe that employees lost a full day or more of work; the total time lost to injuries was 48.8 million worker-days. This means that 83 out of every thousand workers were injured on the job during 1987, a 5% increase compared to 1986 when 79 out of every 1000 workers were injured. --NEW YORK TIMES 11/16/88 (881116), pg. A14.
--Peter Montague, Ph.D.

Descriptor terms: occupational safety and health; labor; workplace hazards; bls; bureau of labor statistics; health effects; drinking water; studies; cancers; clusters; children;