In 2018, 1.8% of the total burden in Australia was due to occupational exposures & hazards.
These estimates reflect the amount of burden that could have been avoided if all people in Australia were not exposed to occupational exposures & hazards including injuries, loud noise, carcinogens, particulate matter, gas and fumes, asthmagens and ergonomic factors.
In 2018, occupational exposures & hazards was linked to 26 diseases and injuries including 11 types of cancer, 8 types of injury, hearing loss, back pain & problems, asthma, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), silicosis, asbestosis and other pneumoconiosis (see Table 1 below and ABDS 2018 Risk factor estimates data table).
Table 1: Type of occupational exposures and hazards and corresponding linked diseases as estimated in the Australian Burden of Disease Study 2018
Occupational exposure or hazard |
Linked disease |
Injury |
Drowning, falls, fire, burns and scalds, homicide and violence, road traffic injuries—motor vehicle occupants, road traffic injuries—motorcyclists, other unintentional injuries, other land transport injuries |
Benzene or formaldehyde |
Acute myeloid leukaemia, Chronic myeloid leukaemia, Chronic lymphocytic leukaemia, Acute lymphoblastic leukaemia, Other leukaemias, nasopharyngeal cancer |
Noise |
Hearing loss |
Arsenic, beryllium, cadmium chromium, diesel engine exhaust, polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons, nickel, second-hand smoke, silica |
Lung cancer |
Sulfuric acid |
Laryngeal cancer |
Trichloroethylene |
Kidney cancer |
Particulate matter, gas and fumes |
COPD |
Asbestos |
Laryngeal cancer, lung cancer, ovarian cancer mesothelioma |
Asbestos, silicone and particulate matter |
Silicosis, asbestosis and other pneumoconiosis |
Asthmagens |
Asthma |
Ergonomic factors |
Back pain & problems |
How much burden was attributable to occupational exposures and hazards?
Occupational exposures & hazards were responsible for the entire burden from silicosis asbestosis and other pneumoconiosis, 65% of mesothelioma burden, 22% of burden from other unintentional injuries, 17% of back pain & problems burden, 12% of burden from fire, burns and scalds, 9% of burden from other land transport injuries, 9% of asthma burden and 8% of road traffic injuries of motor vehicle occupants burden.
Note that the following visualisation displays only the top 10 linked diseases due to occupational exposures & hazards.