A study just published in the Milbank Quarterly found the cost of occupational injuries, illnesses, and deaths in the US to be approximately $250 billion. This figure is $31 billion more than the cost of all cancers and $76 billion more than the cost of diabetes.
The researcher, J. Paul Leigh, is from the UC Davis Center for Healthcare Policy and Research. The study was partially funded by the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH), part of CDC. A write-up of this research is available in EHS Today. The full citation of the research article is: LEIGH, J. P. (2011), Economic Burden of Occupational Injury and Illness in the United States. Milbank Quarterly, 89: 728–772. doi: 10.1111/j.1468-0009.2011.00648.x