Operationalizing the structural vulnerability profile within the medical examiner context.

The medicolegal death investigation process in the United States, historically focused on personal identification and determination of cause and manner of death, has evolved in recent decades to include space for advocacy centered around public health. Particularly, in the domain of forensic anthropology, practitioners have begun to incorporate a structural vulnerability perspective on human anatomical variation, with the goals of articulating the social determinants of ill health and early death and ultimately influencing public policy. This perspective has explanatory power far beyond the anthropological sphere.

A case example of asphyxia due to occupational exposure to airborne chemicals and review of workplace fatalities.

Although worker injury and fatalities have decreased since adoption of the Occupational Safety and Health Act in 1970, it remains an important safety issue. This article describes a 27-year-old white male who died from occupational exposure to airborne chemicals. Several trends in the last several decades, both in the types of injuries and the occupations associated with fatalities, are noted.