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Establishing the Value of Occupational Health Nurses' Contributions to Worker Health and Safety: A Pilot Test of a User-Friendly Estimation Tool

When the chief executive officers of leading companies are asked what makes their company so successful, they are increasingly answering “our people are our greatest asset” (Berger & Nicholson, 2003). Economists refer to the “people asset” as human capital, defined as the value of employees to a company, and it is the proportion of an individual employee’s total productive output in the service of the firm (Berger & Nicholson, 2003). Berger and Nicholson (2003) believe that employers who invest in human capital will lead the United States in productivity. The construct of human capital provides a framework for this article describing how occupational health nurses can estimate the value of their services for organizations. Although different methods can be used to value productivity, the human capital method takes into account the patient (or employee) perspective and counts hours not worked as hours lost (van den Hout, 2010). Health economists have described employees’ productive output during periods of illness, injury, or disability when employees are on leave from work to rest and recover as less than 100% due to poor health or limited function (van den Hout, 2010). Industry leaders are looking for ways to cut costs and, at the same time, increase employees’ productivity (Wallace, 2009). Health-related absence rates, one measure of lost productivity, manifest in a variety of employment benefits, including sick leave, short-term disability, long-term disability, and workers’ compensation. In 2004, these health-related absence rates translated into an annual direct cost to U.S. employers of more than $253 ABSTRACT