ABSTRACT
This chapter focuses on physical explanations for deaths in which occupation might play a part. Physical explanations include injuries sustained at work, as well as diseases that might develop from work in the long term. In search of an explanation by physical conditions, the chapter examines fatal accidents ‘at work’; then, longitudinal evidence of the effect of occupations on death rates; finally, general and specific cause mortality by occupation in the pottery industry. ‘At work’ implies a zone for which employers and the self-employed are responsible under the Health and Safety at Work Act 1973. This includes not only the health and safety of workers directly employed on the employer’s own premises, but also that of any visitor to the premises, and that of work by direct employees in any other location. The Longitudinal Studies are so designed that they provide relatively reliable evidence to assess the impact that occupations might have on health and subsequent death.
