These hazards significantly increase the risk of dying or being seriously injured on the job and can occur in a dynamic environment.

Law enforcement work is a dangerous occupation due to the numerous hazards faced by LEOs. Different inclusion criteria may be one explanation for this difference ( Tiesman et al., 2013). The Federal Bureau of Investigation’s Law Enforcement Officers Killed and Assaulted report found 95 deaths during the same time period ( Federal Bureau of Investigation, 2013). In 2012, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS), 119 law enforcement officers (LEOs) died while on the job ( BLS, 2012b). However, substantial these numbers may appear, the true toll of work-related injury and illness is estimated to be two to three times greater due to inconsistent official data sources and likely underreporting of injuries by workers and employers ( Leigh et al., 2004 United States House of Representatives, 2008). This dollar amount exceeds that of chronic diseases including cancer, diabetes, and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (2011). The costs of occupational injury and illness in the USA are an estimated $250 billion per year ( Leigh, 2011). In that same year, nearly three million US workers experienced non-fatal work-related illnesses and injuries for an overall incidence rate of 3.4 cases per 100 equivalent full-time workers ( BLS, 2013). This equates to approximately 12 workers dying every day in the USA while at work (2012). In the USA in 2012, 4,383 workers died while on the job ( Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS), 2012a).

Calibre press female enforcers