Occupational disease surveillance

We run an occupational disease surveillance system, to investigate specific health conditions related to workplace exposures.  This is useful because many exposures to hazardous substances occur in the workplace.

Datasets included in the surveillance system

The surveillance system includes the following datasets:

• deaths (New Zealand Mortality Collection)
• hospital discharges (National Minimum Dataset)
• cancer registrations and deaths (New Zealand Cancer Registry)
• pharmaceuticals (Pharmaceutical Collection)

We can link the data, based on the unique National Health Index (NHI). Other datasets will be added as they become available.

Example of how the system can be used

An example of how we have used the occupational disease surveillance system:

• determining the hospitalisation, mortality and cancer histories for people who have received drugs to treat dermatitis and asthma

For more information

If you have a question that could be answered using our Occupational Disease Surveillance System, contact us.

The occupational surveillance system was established under a partnership grant from the Health Research Council and the Department of Labour.