Rationale

There is growing recognition of the hazards posed by hot weather for working people. A small number of studies have suggested an association between exposure to hot weather and increased risk of work-related injury.  Given projected increasing average temperatures and more frequent and severe heatwaves, more research is needed to understand the relationship between hot weather and risk of work injury among particular sub-groups of the labour market.  This information will in-turn enable more effective primary prevention strategies to be targeted at particular labour market participants.

Proposed study

The objectives of this study are (1) to examine the association between summer temperatures and risk of acute work-related injury of workers in the city of Melbourne, Australia, over the period 2002-2012, and (2) to assess any modification of this association by age group, gender, characteristics of occupational exposures (occupational group, indoor vs. outdoor work, strength requirements of occupation) and industry of employment.

A time-stratified case crossover study design will be used to examine the relationship between summer temperatures and work-related injury, using a workers' compensation claims administrative dataset as a source of work-related injury data. Exposures of interest are minimum overnight temperature, maximum and mean daily temperature, and Apparent Temperature. Lagged exposures, and potential confounding by humidity, wind speed and precipitation will be considered.

Implications

It is expected that findings from this study will inform adaptive strategies through improved understanding of demographic, occupational and industry specific risk factors for work-related injury during hot weather.