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The New Zealand child work-related fatal injury study: 1985-1998
Rebbecca Lilley1, Anne-Marie Feyer, John Langley
1New Zealand Environmental and Occupational Health Research Centre, Department of Preventive and Social Medicine, University of Otago, Dunedin, New Zealand. rebecca.lilley@stonebow.otago.ac.nz
Aims:
To estimate the numbers and rates of work-related fatal injury for children under the age of 15 years.
Methods:
Potential cases of work-related injury deaths of persons aged <15 years of age were identified from the national electronic mortality data-files for the period 1985-1998 inclusive. The circumstances of the death in each fatality incident were reviewed directly from coronial files to determine work-relatedness.
Results:
A total of 87 workplace work-related fatalities were identified. The vast majority of children identified were fatally injured while a bystander to another person's work. Workplace bystander involvement was found to vary by age, with the majority of workers identified aged 10-14 years old. With a third of all fatalities, the agricultural industry was the most common industry for workplace work-related fatalities in children. In the period 1985-94, children <15 years of age were found to account for 46% of New Zealand's total workplace bystander deaths.
Conclusions:
Children contribute significantly to the overall burden of work-related fatal injury in New Zealand, especially as bystanders to other people's work. The high contribution to bystander deaths by children aged <15 years suggests that hazard control in certain work settings is lacking.
