Variable Values

How much is human life worth? It depends on the federal agency doing the cost-benefit estimates. For purposes of estimating the benefit of a safety initiative in aviation, the statistical value of a life recently was increased by the Department of Transportation (DOT) to $3 million, a 10 percent adjustment from the previously-used value of $2.7 million (see ASW, Aug. 19, 2002). In a Feb. 3 announcement in the Federal Register, the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) sought comments on a draft report to Congress on the costs and benefits of federal regulations (Docket No. 68 FR 5492).

This document contains numerous examples of the statistical value of a life used by other agencies. The higher the statistical value, of course, the more a safety initiative is likely to pass the test of a cost-benefit analysis.