title: A descriptive analysis of work-related fatal injury in older workers in Australia 2000-2009.
abstract: The objective of this study is to describe the extent, nature, age distribution and external causes of older-worker fatalities and to provide baseline data for future studies. The methods included retrospective descriptive cohort study using existing population-based mortality data. The study examined work-related fatalities aged 55 years and older, 2000-2009, in Australia following coronial investigation. Of the 336 fatalities identified, almost all (96.3%) were male. The industry with most deaths was agriculture, forestry and fishing (37.8%), followed by transport, postal and warehousing (19.3%) and construction (16.6%). The most frequent injury mechanism was transport-related (40.4%). With predicted workforce ageing, older-worker deaths will become a significant public health issue. Employers and authorities will need to understand older-workers characteristics and vulnerabilities to enable appropriate injury prevention strategy implementation.
authors.affiliation: Department of Forensic Medicine, Monash University, Melbourne, Australia. christopher.b.jones@monash.edu
authors.forename: Christopher
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Jones
authors.forename: Virginia
authors.initials: V
authors.lastname: Routley
authors.forename: Gael
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Trytell
authors.forename: Joseph
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Ibrahim
authors.forename: Joan
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Ozanne-Smith
mesh_terms: D000367:Age Factors; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D000383:Agriculture / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D001315:Australia / Q000453:epidemiology; D005260:Female; D016468:Forestry / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D006801:Humans; D007221:Industry / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D060051:Occupational Injuries / Q000209:etiology / Q000401:mortality*; D011177:Postal Service / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D012189:Retrospective Studies; D012737:Sex Factors; D014186:Transportation / Q000706:statistics & numerical data