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Bereaved families and the coronial response to traumatic workplace fatalities: Organizational perspectives

journal contribution
posted on 2023-05-20, 00:09 authored by Matthews, LR, Fitzpatrick, SJ, Quinlan, MG, Ngo, M, Philip BohlePhilip Bohle
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.

History

Publication title

Death Studies

Volume

40

Pagination

191-200

ISSN

0748-1187

Department/School

TSBE

Publisher

Brunner/Mazel Inc

Place of publication

1900 Frost Rd, Ste 101, Bristol, USA, Pa, 19007-1598

Rights statement

© 2016 Taylor & Francis

Repository Status

  • Restricted

Socio-economic Objectives

Work and labour market not elsewhere classified

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    University Of Tasmania

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