A Summary of Fatal Injury Surveillance Methods in Australian Agriculture and Their Impact on Safety Policies and Practices.

Agriculture is one of the most important and also hazardous industries in Australia. Having a sound knowledge and understanding of the circumstance of injury events is critical to developing evidence-based intervention programs. This paper aims to provide a brief historical snapshot of the development of data systems underpinning the assessment of fatal farm injury in Australia and how it has impacted on safety policy and practice. The first Australian studies used coronial information to explore agricultural fatalities, these studies reviewed paper based records (in-situ) and collected the information for analysis and reporting. This task was laborious and costly. When the National Coronial Information System (NCIS) was established in 2000, this allowed access to coronial records online. Information provided about the deceased includes demographics, contextual detail on the nature of the fatality and autopsy, toxicology, and police reports, as-well-as the coroner's finding. Information from the NCIS, along with media reports, have been used to develop the farm fatality database. This information has been used to inform the goals and targets for critical farming groups, identification of key risks, development of prevention material and research papers, providing long-term benchmarking of indicators, plus information to underpin training resources. Without providing accurate, timely, concise and relevant data about injury occurring on farms or due to agricultural work, there is no evidence to drive policy and practice or to evaluate programs of work. As such, the continued utilization and extension of the NCIS data will prove crucial to further reducing the burden of preventable fatal injuries on Australian farms.