38 Compensation and Working Conditions Fall 1999

Occupational

Stress:

Counts and Rates

Safety and Health

Although many employees experience stress as a

normal part of their jobs, some experience stress

so severely that they become ill and need time away

from work to recuperate.

TIMOTHY WEBSTER

BRUCE BERGMAN

Timothy Webster and Bruce Bergman are economists in the Office of

Safety, Health and Working Conditions, Bureau of Labor Statistics. A

version of these findings was presented in March 1999 at the American

Psychological Association and National Institute of Occupational Safety

and Health joint conference, “Work, Stress, and Health ’99: Organization

of Work in a Global Economy.”

Telephone: (202) 691-6169

E-mail: Webster_T@bls.gov

 Bergman_B@bls.gov

Although many employees experience stress as a normal part

of their jobs, some employees experience stress more severely than others, to an extent that they become ill and need

time away from work. The Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS)

classifies such occurrences of occupational stress as “neurotic reaction to stress.” 1 The Bureau’s Survey of Occupational Injuries and Illnesses (SOII) estimated that there were

3,418 cases of occupational stress in 1997. The median absence from work for these cases was 23 days, more than four

times the median absence for all nonfatal occupational injuries and illnesses. Forty-four percent of occupational stress

cases involved 31 or more lost workdays, compared to 19

percent of all injuries and illnesses. (See table 1.)

Counts

The 1997 estimate of 3,418 cases of occupational stress is

the lowest since 1992, when BLS first collected data on detailed case characteristics of nonfatal occupational injuries

and illnesses. This decline is consistent with the trend for all

nonfatal occupational injuries and illnesses involving days

away from work. (See table 2.) The number of occupational stress cases declined 15 percent during the period 1992-

97 and the number of all injury and illness cases declined 21

percent.

TABLE 1. Percent distribution of all nonfatal occupational

injuries and illnesses and neurotic reaction to stress cases

involving days away from work, 1997

Total .......................................... 100 100

Days away from work

1 .................................................. 17 6

2 .................................................. 13 2

3-5 .................................................. 20 15

6-10 ................................................ 13 9

11-20 ............................................... 12 11

21-30 .............................................. 7 12

31 or more ...................................... 19 44

Median days away from work .............. 5 23

1

 Days-away-from-work cases include those which result in

days away from work with or without restricted work activity.

All injuries

and

illnesses

Neurotic

reaction to

stress

Days away from work1

Industry. Table 3 shows how the industrial distribution of

occupational stress cases differed from the distribution of

all injury and illness cases. Finance, insurance, and real estate, with 2 percent of all injuries and illnesses, and services,

with 23 percent, had high percentages of occupational stress

cases, 12 percent and 35 percent, respectively. All other

industries had lower percentages of occupational stress cases

than they did of all injuries and illnesses. The three industries with the highest percentage of occupational stress cases

in 1997 were: Services (35 percent), manufacturing (21 percent), and retail trade (14 percent).

Occupation. The distribution of occupational stress cases

by occupation differed from the distribution of all injury and
 Compensation and Working Conditions Fall 1999 39

Occupational Stress

illness cases by occupation. Whereas 42 percent of all injuries and illnesses occurred to operators, fabricators, and laborers, 15 percent of occupational stress cases occurred

within this group. Conversely, although 15 percent of all

injuries and illnesses involved technical, sales, and administrative support occupations, 48 percent of occupational stress

cases involved this occupational group.

Individual occupations with the highest percentages of occupational stress cases included: Bookkeepers, accounting and

auditing clerks—5 percent; supervisors and proprietors, sales

occupations—4 percent; investigators and adjusters, excluding insurance—4 percent; cooks—4 percent; and supervisors,

production occupations—4 percent. (See table 3.)

Sex. For all injury and illness cases, for every case involving a female, approximately two cases involved a male. The

opposite pattern was true for occupational stress—for every

1.6 cases involving a female, 1 case involved a male.

Rates

Incidence rates by industry. Table 4 shows that 1997 was

the first year since BLS started collecting data on detailed

case characteristics that the nonfatal occupational injury and

illness incidence rate for occupational stress cases was less

than 1 case per 10,000 full-time workers in each of the major industry divisions. The 1997 incidence rate for occupational stress in finance, insurance, and real estate, 0.6, was at

its lowest point in 6 years, and for the first time since 1992,

did not significantly exceed the rate for each of the other

major industry divisions. The incidence rate for all injuries

and illnesses in finance, insurance, and real estate, 67.4 cases

per 10,000 workers in 1997, was the lowest among the major industry divisions, and less than one-third of the total

private industry rate.

Relative risk by occupation. An index of relative risk compares the risk faced by employees in individual occupational

groups to that faced by all occupations combined. The index is calculated such that the risk faced by all occupations

combined is equal to 1. In 1997, the index for occupational

stress ranged from 0.6 for managerial and professional occupations to 1.6 for technical, sales, and administrative support occupations. (See table 5.)

The relative risk for occupational stress exceeded the relative risk for all injuries and illnesses for white-collar occupations; conversely, the relative risk for occupational stress

was lower than the relative risk for all injuries and illnesses

for blue-collar occupations and service occupations.

TABLE 2. Number of all nonfatal occupational injuries and illnesses and neurotic reaction to stress cases involving days away

from work and the percent change in the number of cases, 1992-97

All injuries and illnesses ........................... 2,331,098 2,252,591 2,236,639 2,040,929 1,880,525 1,833,380 -21

Neurotic reaction to stress ................. 4,011 5,660 4,974 3,988 3,453 3,418 -15

1992 1993 1994 1995

Percent

change

1992-97

Nature of injury or illness 1996 1997

TABLE 3. Percent distribution of all nonfatal occupational

injuries and illnesses and neurotic reaction to stress cases

involving days away from work, selected characteristics,

1997

Total cases1 .................................................................... 1,833,380 3,418

Industry (total percent) ............................ 100 100

Agriculture, forestry, and fishing1 ....... 2 -

Mining ................................................. 1 -

Construction ....................................... 10 -

Manufacturing .................................... 24 21

Transportation and public utilities ...... 12 9

Wholesale trade ................................. 8 7

Retail trade ......................................... 17 14

Finance, insurance, and real

 estate .............................................. 2 12

Services .............................................. 23 35

Occupation (total percent) ....................... 100 100

White collar

Managerial and professional ........ 5 16

Technical, sales, and

 administrative support ............... 15 48

Bookkeepers, accounting

 and auditing clerks ............... (3) 5

Supervisors and proprietors,

 sales occupations ................ 2 4

Investigators and adjusters,

 excluding insurance ............. (3

) 4

Sales representatives, mining,

 manufacturing, wholesale .... (3) 3

Insurance adjusters, examiners

 and investigators .................. (3) 3

General office clerks ............... 1 3

Service ............................................... 17 11

Cooks ...................................... 2 4

Guards and police, except

 public .................................... 1 3

Blue collar

Farming, forestry, and fishing ....... 3 -

Precision production, craft,

 and repair ................................... 17 9

Operators, fabricators, and

 laborers ..................................... 42 15

Supervisors, production

 occupations .......................... 1 4

Assemblers ............................. 2 3

Sex (total percent) ................................... 100 100

Men ................................................. 66 39

Women ............................................... 33 61

All injuries

and

illnesses

Neurotic

reaction to

stress

Characteristic

2

2

1

 Excludes farms with fewer than 11 employees.

2 Data conforming to Occupational Safety and Health Administration definitions for mining operators in coal, metal, and nonmetal mining and for employees in railroad transportation are provided to BLS by the Mine Safety and

Health Administration and the Federal Railroad Administration, U.S. Department of Transportation. Independent mining contractors are excluded from

the coal, metal, and mining industries. 3 Less than 1 percent.

NOTE: Overall categories may include data for classifications not shown.

Dash indicates data that do not meet publication guidelines. Because of rounding, sums of individual items may not equal totals.
40 Compensation and Working Conditions Fall 1999

Summary

BLS estimated that there were 3,418 work absences due to

occupational stress in 1997. These cases tended to be severe, resulting in a median of 23 days away from work to

recuperate. Occupational stress cases had characteristics that

differed from the characteristics of all nonfatal occupational

injuries and illnesses combined. Major differences included

the following:

• Finance, insurance, and real estate and services had a

higher percentage of occupational stress cases than

their percentage share of all injuries and illnesses; the

opposite was true for all other industry divisions.

• The relative risk of job stress for white-collar workers

was higher than their relative risk for all injuries and

illnesses; the opposite was true for blue-collar and service workers.

• For all injuries and illnesses, for every case involving

a female, approximately two cases involved a male;

however, for occupational stress, for every 1.6 cases

involving a female, 1 case involved a male.

Although these occupational stress cases are relatively

infrequent, they are often severe; and, therefore, decreasing

the risk of occupational stress benefits both workers and employers.

Survey methodology

The BLS Survey of Occupational Injuries and Illnesses is a

Federal/State cooperative program. Each year, a scientifically selected sample of private employers responds to a

survey questionnaire.2 Respondents report summary information on the number of injuries and illnesses directly from

establishment safety logs. The information contained in

these logs conforms to definitions and recordkeeping guidelines established by the Occupational Safety and Health Administration, U.S. Department of Labor. In addition to the

number of cases, the questionnaire asks for the number of

employee hours worked (used to calculate incidence rates)

and the establishment’s average employment.3

BLS classifies nonfatal injuries and illnesses resulting in

work absences by principal physical characteristic (for example, fracture, cut, or respiratory disease), part of the body

directly affected (for example, back or leg), source (for example, box, beam, or worker motion), and event or exposure

(for example, fall or struck by object). In addition, BLS

gathers data on the worker’s age, length of service, race,

occupation, and gender.

TABLE 4. Incidence rates1 for all nonfatal occupational injuries and illnesses and neurotic reaction to stress cases involving days

away from work2 per 10,000 full-time workers by industry, 1992-97

Total private industry ............................................................. 212.3 0.5 0.7 0.6 0.5 0.4 0.4

Agriculture, forestry, and fishing ............................................ 300.5 .1 .1 ----

Mining .................................................................................... 292.7 .1 -----

Construction .......................................................................... 364.8 .1 .1 .1 - - -

Manufacturing ........................................................................ 238.3 .4 .4 .5 .4 .3 .4

Transportation and public utilities .......................................... 365.4 .5 1.0 .8 .7 .4 .5

Wholesale trade .................................................................... 214.3 .5 .4 1.0 .3 .1 .4

Retail trade ............................................................................ 193.0 .3 .3 .5 .7 .6 .3

Finance, insurance, and real estate ...................................... 67.4 1.5 2.6 1.9 1.2 1.1 .6

Services ................................................................................. 166.9 .6 .9 .5 .4 .4 .5

All injuries and

illnesses1997

Neurotic reaction to stress

Industry

1992 1993 1994 1996 1995 1997

3

3

4

4,5

1

 Incidence rates represent the number of injuries and illnesses

per 10,000 full-time workers and were calculated as:

(N / EH) X 20,000,000 where:

N = number of injuries and illnesses

EH = total hours worked by all employees during

the calendar year

20,000,00 = base for 10,000 full-time equivalent workers

(working 40 hours per week, 50 weeks per

year) 2

 Days-away-from-work cases include those that result in days

away from work with or without restricted work activity. 3

 Excludes farms with fewer than 11 employees. 4

 Data conforming to Occupational Safety and Health Administration definitions for mining operators in coal, metal, and nonmetal

mining and for employees in railroad transportation are provided to

BLS by the Mine Safety and Health Administration, U.S. Department of Labor, and the Federal Railroad Administration, U.S. Department of Transportation. Independent mining contractors are

excluded from the coal, metal, and nonmetal mining industries. 5

 In 1996, air courier operations previously classified in the Standard Industrial Classification System (SIC) as industry groups 421,

422, 423, 452, 473, and 478 were reclassified to industry group

451. As a result, the 1996 and 1997 estimates for these SIC’s and

major industry groups 42, 45, and 47 are not comparable to those

for prior years. In addition, the 1996 and 1997 estimates for transportation and public utilities may have more variability than those

for prior years.

 NOTE: Dash indicates data do not meet publication guidelines.
 Compensation and Working Conditions Fall 1999 41

Occupational Stress

1

 Throughout this article, “neurotic reaction to stress” and “occupational stress” are used synonymously. 2

 Occupational injury and illness data for coal, metal, and nonmetal

mining and for railroad activities are provided by the Department of Labor’s

Mine Safety and Health Administration and the Department of

Transportation’s Federal Railroad Administration. The survey excludes

all work-related fatalities as well as nonfatal work injuries and illnesses to

the self employed, to workers on farms with 10 or fewer employees, and to

private household workers; for national estimates, the survey excludes

TABLE 5. Relative risk1 of all nonfatal occupational injuries and illnesses and neurotic reaction to stress cases

involving days away from work by occupation, 1997

 All occupations .............................................................................. 129,558 1.0 1.0

White collar

Managerial and professional .............................................................. 37,686 .2 .6

Technical, sales, and administrative support..................................... 38,309 .5 1.6

Service ..................................................................................................... 17,537 1.3 .8

Blue collar

Farming, forestry, and fishing ............................................................ 3,503 1.0 -

Precision production, craft, and repair ............................................... 14,124 1.6 .8

Operators, fabricators, and laborers .................................................. 18,399 3.0 1.1

Number

employed2

(thousands)

All injuries

and

illnesses

Neurotic

reaction to

stress

Occupation

Federal, State, and local government workers. 3

 Many factors can influence counts and rates of injuries and illnesses

in a given year. These include not only the year’s injury and illness experience, but also the employer’s understanding of which cases are workrelated under current recordkeeping guidelines of the U.S. Department of

Labor. The number of injuries and illnesses reported in a given year also

can be affected by changes in the level of economic activity, working conditions and work practices, worker experience and training, and the number of hours worked.

1

 The index of relative risk for workers of type i is calculated as the ratio of group i’s proportion of all injuries

and illnesses to group i’s proportion of total employment:

II = (ni / N) / (hi / H) where:

Ii = Index of relative risk for group i

ni = Injuries and illnesses sustained by group i

N = Injuries and illnesses sustained by all

workers

hi = Employment of group i

H = Employment of all workers 2 Employment statistics are based on Current

Population Survey data, 1997.