We made estimates of absolute morbidity and mortality due to occupational factors for the world using all available published data as of 1994, and, where no data were available, applying the most appropriate (in terms of similar economy, race, and environment) age-/sex-/diagnosis-specific incidence and mortality rates to known working population distributions. We report results according to economic groupings determined by the World Bank (World Development Report, 1993) and disease and injury groupings according to The Global Burden of Disease project (1997). This was part of a larger study that estimated the total global disease burden. We present aggregate results and analyses by region and disease. We estimate that approximately 100,000,000 occupational injuries (100,000 deaths) and 11,000,000 occupational diseases (700,000 deaths) occur in the world each year. We regard these as very conservative estimates which, although unavoidably crude, can nevertheless provide a basis for health priority planning at global level.