Quantitative estimates of work-related death, disease and injury in New Zealand.

Objectives: New Zealand lacks comprehensive statistics on work-related injury and illness, and the impact of adverse work conditions on health is therefore not known. The objective of this study was to make quantitative estimates of the annual number of deaths from work-related disease and injury in New Zealand, as well as estimate the number of incident cases of work-related disease and injury.

Methods: Wherever possible, specific data for New Zealand were used, but, where adequate national data were lacking, a combination of New Zealand data and extrapolations from other countries was used. For work-related injury mortality and incidence, published studies and reports of the New Zealand Accident Compensation Corporation were primarily used. For work-related disease mortality, the likely population attributable fractions from overseas studies were mainly used, together with mortality data from New Zealand. For work-related disease incidence, both approaches were used.

Results: In New Zealand about 700-1000 deaths were estimated to occur annually from work-related disease and about 100 deaths from work-related injury. About 17 000-20 000 new cases of work-related disease occur annually and about 200 000 work-related accidents result in claims made to the New Zealand Accident Compensation Corporation.

Conclusions: Despite their imprecision, these conservative estimates indicate the burden of work-related death, disease, and injury in New Zealand. The estimates by gender, industry, and disease types provide useful information for policy priorities.