SafetyInsights.org

I just summarised a new study which looked at suicide rates in Australian mining, compared to other industries (e.g. construction or the all-population average). As expected, pretty sad and troubling findings overall.

Interested in learning more about this topic, I found another study, from 2019, that explored the links between suicide and fatal drug overdoses following occupational injury in New Mexico. The latter used workers’ compensation claims as the proxy.

This paper found that following a workers’ compensation claim/benefits there was an almost “3‐fold increase in combined drug‐related and suicide mortality hazard among women (HR = 2.63, 95% CI = 1.91‐3.64) and a substantial increase among men (HR = 1.42, 95% CI = 1.13‐1.79)”.

That is, among women, lost time injuries led to a near tripling in the hazard of drug-related deaths and a 92% increase in mortality due to suicide. For men, lost time injury was linked with a 72% increased hazard of suicide.

Moreover, circulatory disease mortality hazard was also elevated for men (HR = 1.25).

They conclude that “Workplace injuries severe enough to require more than a week off work may impair workers’ long‐term health and well‐being. Drug‐related deaths and suicides may be important contributors to the long‐term excess mortality of injured workers”.

It’s hinted that the links of occupational factors and injury in drug and suicide mortality may be underrecognized and misclassified; masking the impact that organisations have on worker health and ultimately, society as a whole.

Further, the authors argue that “the increased risk of suicide following injury, observed for both women and men, highlights the importance of understanding the impact on mental health following workplace injuries”.

Although they didn’t mention this, I think there’s a lot to be said here about restorative approaches.

Authors: Applebaum, K. M., Asfaw, A., O’Leary, P. K., Busey, A., Tripodis, Y., & Boden, L. I. (2019). Suicide and drug‐related mortality following occupational injury. American journal of industrial medicine, 62(9), 733-741.

Link to the LinkedIn post: https://www.linkedin.com/posts/benhutchinson2_i-just-summarised-a-new-study-which-looked-activity-7075598009937399808-9f3k?utm_source=share&utm_medium=member_desktop