Assessing the Classification of Work-Relatedness of Fatal Incidents: A Comparison Between Australia, New Zealand and the United States

Details

• Personal Author:
  Driscoll T ; Feyer AM ; Stout N ; Williamson A
• Description:
  As part of a larger study comparing work-related fatal injury of workers in Australia, New Zealand and the United States, an assessment was made of the similarities and differences between the three countries in identifying fatal incidents as work-related or not. The researchers in each country independently classified 333 brief scenarios, describing a variety of fatal incidents, into one of nine categories related to work: worker, bystander, commuter, volunteer, student, suicide, other, unknown and none of the above. Complete agreement with the classification was moderate (62%), but agreement when classifying scenarios as working, not working or unknown was much higher (full agreement for 80% of scenarios; Kappa = 0.71). Only 5% of scenarios were classified differently by all three countries. Other main findings of the study were that there is variation between countries in the interpretation of what is and what is not work-related, and variation in the amount or type of information required to make a definitive classification. Common circumstances described in the scenarios for which there was some disagreement in classification included domestic violence incidents at work, volunteer workers, business trips, social functions connected to work, hobby farmers and some possible bystander incidents that occurred on farms or on the road. The results suggest that, even without the use of standard definitions, comparisons between the datasets of the countries involved in this study can be made with reasonable confidence. However, they also emphasise the importance of minimising ambiguity in the definitions used, and of understanding the manner in which the definitions are applied, when comparing results between studies. [Description provided by NIOSH]
• Subjects:
  Accidents, Occupational Mortality Occupational Exposure Occupational Health Occupational Injuries Risk Assessment Risk Factors Safety
• Keywords:
  Accident-statistics Accident Classification Accidents Author Keywords: Work-related Injury Fatal Accidents Injuries Mortality-rates Occupational-accidents Occupational-hazards Occupational Safety Risk-factors

  More +
• ISSN:
  1566-0974
• Document Type:
  Text
• Genre:
  Journal Article
• Place as Subject:
  OSHA Region 3 ; West Virginia
• CIO:
  National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH)
• Division:
  DSR - Division of Safety Research
• Topic:
  Workplace Safety & Health
• Location:
  North America
• Pages in Document:
  32-39
• Volume:
  9
• Issue:
  1
• NIOSHTIC Number:
  nn:20022947
• Citation:
  Inj Control Saf Promot 2002 Mar; 9(1):32-39
• Contact Point Address:
  COEH, c/-49 Taleeban Rd., Riverview NSW 2066, Australia
• Federal Fiscal Year:
  2002
• Peer Reviewed:
  True
• Source Full Name:
  Injury Control and Safety Promotion
• Collection(s):
  National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health
• Main Document Checksum:
  urn:sha-512:0e7a0777af277040436ff491562bd5af218998549ff29defcbb3c68c4ca1f9e5a928c70ce96a5f5c3d9f836dccc04db6e209409d897c4b483320806dac9ed69d
• Download URL:
  https://stacks.cdc.gov/view/cdc/199551/cdc_199551_DS1.pdf
• File Type:
  [PDF - 322.61 KB ]