Ministerial Inquiry into the Management of Certain Hazardous Substances in Workplaces
Media Release
05 January 2004
What we don't know about occupational injuries and illnesses
Although more than 500 people die from work-related diseases or accidents each year, we still do not have enough information on what this really costs New Zealand.
Getting that information will be the first priority for the National Occupational Health and Safety Advisory Committee (NOHSAC), an independent Committee established by the Minister of Labour earlier this year. It will first develop a report on the burden of occupational disease and injury in New Zealand. It then plans to research occupational disease surveillance systems, emerging occupational health and safety hazards; and change in the work environment.
'We know that there are about 100 deaths a year from injuries in the workplace, but we know much less about the 500 or more deaths from occupationally-related diseases, and even less about cancer registrations or hospital admissions caused by occupational exposures', says NOHSAC Chair, Professor Neil Pearce.
Without this research agenda, New Zealand has little or no chance of effectively monitoring the burden of occupational disease and injury in New Zealand, or of developing and evaluating effective interventions to reduce this burden, Dr Pearce says.
To identify the huge gaps in our knowledge of occupational disease and injury, NOHSAC has contracted Dr Tim Driscoll, a Sydney-based epidemiologist with a background in occupational medicine to undertake this important project. The research will be completed in June 2004.
This work programme will serve as a solid platform upon which NOHSAC and the Minister of Labour can base future decisions regarding policy initiatives, prevention programmes, and further research into occupational health and safety in New Zealand.
The research will clarify the size of the problem and the cost to New Zealand of fatal and non-fatal disease and injury arising from work-related exposures in New Zealand workplaces.
'At the moment, we don't even know how much we don't know,' says Professor Pearce. 'this research will tell us where the information gaps are, and then we can work out what to do about them.'
For further information:
Professor Neil Pearce, NOHSAC Chair and Director, School of Public Health, Massey University - Wellington. Ph: (04) 380-0606.
