TY - JOUR
T1 - The burden of occupational injury attributable to high temperatures in Australia, 2014–19
T2 - a retrospective observational study
AU - Varghese, Blesson M.
AU - Hansen, Alana
AU - Mann, Nick
AU - Liu, Jingwen
AU - Zhang, Ying
AU - Driscoll, Tim R.
AU - Morgan, Geoffrey G.
AU - Dear, Keith
AU - Capon, Anthony
AU - Gourley, Michelle
AU - Prescott, Vanessa
AU - Dolar, Vergil
AU - Bi, Peng
N1 - Funding Information:
This investigation was funded by the Australian Research Council with a Discovery Project grant (DP200102571) to Peng Bi. We gratefully acknowledge the Australian Institute of Health and Welfare for providing YLD estimates and supplying the disability weights and life tables produced by the Global Burden of Disease study, for providing methodological input, and for their assistance and guidance throughout the project. We acknowledge Safe Work Australia for providing deaths data for calculating YLLs and workers’ compensation claims data for calculating YLDs. We thank Syeda Hira Fatima and Matthew Borg (University of Adelaide) for their assistance with data analysis.
Funding Information:
This investigation was funded by the Australian Research Council with a Discovery Project grant (DP200102571) to Peng Bi. We gratefully acknowledge the Australian Institute of Health and Welfare for providing YLD estimates and supplying the disability weights and life tables produced by the Global Burden of Disease study, for providing methodological input, and for their assistance and guidance throughout the project. We acknowledge Safe Work Australia for providing deaths data for calculating YLLs and workers’ compensation claims data for calculating YLDs. We thank Syeda Hira Fatima and Matthew Borg (University of Adelaide) for their assistance with data analysis.
Publisher Copyright:
© 2023 The Authors. Medical Journal of Australia published by John Wiley & Sons Australia, Ltd on behalf of AMPCo Pty Ltd.
PY - 2023/12/11
Y1 - 2023/12/11
N2 - Objectives: To assess the population health impact of high temperatures on workplace health and safety by estimating the burden of heat-attributable occupational injury in Australia. Study design, setting: Retrospective observational study; estimation of burden of occupational injury in Australia attributable to high temperatures during 2014–19, based on Safe Work Australia (work-related traumatic injury fatalities and workers’ compensation databases) and Australian Institute of Health and Welfare data (Australian Burden of Disease Study and National Hospital Morbidity databases), and a meta-analysis of climate zone-specific risk data. Main outcome measure: Burden of heat-attributable occupational injuries as disability-adjusted life years (DALYs), comprising the numbers of years of life lived with disability (YLDs) and years of life lost (YLLs), nationally, by Köppen–Geiger climate zone, and by state and territory. Results: During 2014–19, an estimated 42 884 years of healthy life were lost to occupational injury, comprising 39 485 YLLs (92.1%) and 3399 YLDs (7.9%), at a rate of 0.80 DALYs per 1000 workers per year. A total of 967 occupational injury-related DALYs were attributable to heat (2.3% of occupational injury-related DALYs), comprising 890 YLLs (92%) and 77 YLDs (8%). By climate zone, the heat-attributable proportion was largest in the tropical Am (12 DALYs; 3.5%) and Aw zones (34 DALYs; 3.5%); by state and territory, the proportion was largest in New South Wales and Queensland (each 2.9%), which also included the largest numbers of heat-attributable occupational injury-related DALYs (NSW: 379 DALYs, 39% of national total; Queensland: 308 DALYs; 32%). Conclusion: An estimated 2.3% of the occupational injury burden in Australia is attributable to high ambient temperatures. To prevent this burden increasing with global warming, adaptive measures and industry-based policies are needed to safeguard workplace health and safety, particularly in heat-exposed industries, such as agriculture, transport, and construction.
AB - Objectives: To assess the population health impact of high temperatures on workplace health and safety by estimating the burden of heat-attributable occupational injury in Australia. Study design, setting: Retrospective observational study; estimation of burden of occupational injury in Australia attributable to high temperatures during 2014–19, based on Safe Work Australia (work-related traumatic injury fatalities and workers’ compensation databases) and Australian Institute of Health and Welfare data (Australian Burden of Disease Study and National Hospital Morbidity databases), and a meta-analysis of climate zone-specific risk data. Main outcome measure: Burden of heat-attributable occupational injuries as disability-adjusted life years (DALYs), comprising the numbers of years of life lived with disability (YLDs) and years of life lost (YLLs), nationally, by Köppen–Geiger climate zone, and by state and territory. Results: During 2014–19, an estimated 42 884 years of healthy life were lost to occupational injury, comprising 39 485 YLLs (92.1%) and 3399 YLDs (7.9%), at a rate of 0.80 DALYs per 1000 workers per year. A total of 967 occupational injury-related DALYs were attributable to heat (2.3% of occupational injury-related DALYs), comprising 890 YLLs (92%) and 77 YLDs (8%). By climate zone, the heat-attributable proportion was largest in the tropical Am (12 DALYs; 3.5%) and Aw zones (34 DALYs; 3.5%); by state and territory, the proportion was largest in New South Wales and Queensland (each 2.9%), which also included the largest numbers of heat-attributable occupational injury-related DALYs (NSW: 379 DALYs, 39% of national total; Queensland: 308 DALYs; 32%). Conclusion: An estimated 2.3% of the occupational injury burden in Australia is attributable to high ambient temperatures. To prevent this burden increasing with global warming, adaptive measures and industry-based policies are needed to safeguard workplace health and safety, particularly in heat-exposed industries, such as agriculture, transport, and construction.
KW - Injuries
KW - Occupational injuries
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85177183642&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.5694/mja2.52171
DO - 10.5694/mja2.52171
M3 - Article
C2 - 37992722
AN - SCOPUS:85177183642
SN - 0025-729X
VL - 219
SP - 542
EP - 548
JO - The Medical Journal of Australia
JF - The Medical Journal of Australia
IS - 11
ER -
