title: Bereaved families and the coronial response to traumatic workplace fatalities: Organizational perspectives.
abstract: Work remains a significant source of illness, injury, and death in developed countries. In Australia, for example, over 2,000 people die from work-related causes each year, with heavy social, economic, and personal costs (Safe Work Australia, 2013a ). Most die as a result of work-related disease. However, many die from trauma. In 2012, 223 workers were fatally injured in Australia and in the United States the figure was 4,383 (Bureau of Labor Statistics, 2014 ; Safe Work Australia, 2013b ). Apart from the immediate tragedy of each worker's death, these deaths affect the victim's immediate family, wider family, friends, and co-workers. It has been estimated that, on average, every death has an impact on at least 20 other people (Dyregrov, Nordanger, & Dyregrov, 2003 ), especially when the deceased had several families, which is an increasingly common phenomenon (OECD, 2014 ). Little is known, however, about how regulatory responses following a traumatic workplace fatality meet the needs of surviving families. With a focus on the coronial investigation, this article provides information about the regulatory responses to a traumatic workplace fatality and examines how various organizations involved in the coronial process following the death viewed its ability to accommodate the needs and wishes of surviving families.
authors.affiliation: a Ageing Work and Health Research Unit, Faculty of Health Sciences , The University of Sydney , Sydney , Australia.
authors.forename: Lynda R
authors.initials: LR
authors.lastname: Matthews
authors.affiliation: a Ageing Work and Health Research Unit, Faculty of Health Sciences , The University of Sydney , Sydney , Australia.|b Centre for Rural and Remote Mental Health , The University of Newcastle , Newcastle , Australia.
authors.forename: Scott J
authors.initials: SJ
authors.lastname: Fitzpatrick
authors.affiliation: a Ageing Work and Health Research Unit, Faculty of Health Sciences , The University of Sydney , Sydney , Australia.|c School of Management , The University of New South Wales , Sydney , Australia.
authors.forename: Michael G
authors.initials: MG
authors.lastname: Quinlan
authors.affiliation: a Ageing Work and Health Research Unit, Faculty of Health Sciences , The University of Sydney , Sydney , Australia.
authors.forename: Mark
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Ngo
authors.affiliation: a Ageing Work and Health Research Unit, Faculty of Health Sciences , The University of Sydney , Sydney , Australia.
authors.forename: Philip
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Bohle
mesh_terms: D000062:Accidents, Occupational / Q000523:psychology*; D001315:Australia; D003643:Death; D005190:Family; D033062:Friends; D006801:Humans; D017132:Workplace / Q000458:organization & administration* / Q000523:psychology