Lim, MSC;
Murray, J;
Dowdeswell, RJ;
Glynn, JR;
Sonnenberg, P;
(2011)
Unnatural Deaths in South African Platinum Miners, 1992-2008.
PLOS ONE
, 6
(9)
, Article e22807. 10.1371/journal.pone.0022807.
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Abstract
Background: The mortality rate from unnatural deaths for South Africa is nearly double the world average. Reliable data are limited by inaccurate and incomplete ascertainment of specific causes of unnatural death. This study describes trends in causes of unnatural death between 1992 and 2008 in a cohort of South African miners.Methodology/Principal Findings: The study used routinely-collected retrospective data with cause of death determined from multiple sources including the mine's human resources database, medical records, death registration, and autopsy. Cause-specific mortality rates and Poisson regression coefficients were calculated by calendar year and age group. The cohort included 40,043 men. One quarter of all 2937 deaths were from unnatural causes (n = 805). Causes of unnatural deaths were road traffic accidents 38% (109/100,000 py), homicides 30% (88/100,000 py), occupational injuries 17% (50/100,000 py), suicides 8% (24/100,000 py), and other accidents 6% (19/100,000 py). Rates of unnatural deaths declined by 2% (95% CI -4%,-1%) per year over the study period, driven by declining rates of road traffic and other accidents. The rate of occupational injury mortality did not change significantly over time (-2% per year, 95% CI -5%,+ 2%). Unnatural deaths were less frequent in this cohort of workers than in the South African population (IRR 0.89, 95% CI 0.82-0.95), particularly homicides (IRR 0.48, 95% CI 0.42-0.55).Conclusions/Significance: Unnatural deaths were a common cause of preventable and premature death in this cohort of miners. While unnatural death rates declined between 1992 and 2008, occupational fatalities remained at a high level. Evidence-based prevention strategies to address these avoidable deaths are urgently needed.
| Type: | Article |
|---|---|
| Title: | Unnatural Deaths in South African Platinum Miners, 1992-2008 |
| Open access status: | An open access version is available from UCL Discovery |
| DOI: | 10.1371/journal.pone.0022807 |
| Publisher version: | http://dx.doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0022807 |
| Language: | English |
| Additional information: | © 2011 Lim et al. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited. This work was supported by the Colt Foundation [CF/04/08 www.coltfoundation.org.uk] and a National Health and Medical Research Council Overseas Postdoctoral Training Fellowship [543158] to ML. These funders had no role in study design, data collection and analysis, decision to publish, or preparation of the manuscript. RD is an employee of Rustenburg Platinum Mines Limited and a part-time consultant to Anglo Platinum Ltd. He played a role in study design, analysis and preparation of the manuscript. |
| Keywords: | GOLD MINERS, ACCIDENTS, FATALITIES, INJURIES |
| UCL classification: | UCL UCL > Provost and Vice Provost Offices > School of Life and Medical Sciences UCL > Provost and Vice Provost Offices > School of Life and Medical Sciences > Faculty of Population Health Sciences > Institute for Global Health UCL > Provost and Vice Provost Offices > School of Life and Medical Sciences > Faculty of Population Health Sciences > Institute for Global Health > Infection and Population Health |
| URI: | https://discovery.ucl.ac.uk/id/eprint/1329915 |
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