Source · Select Committees · Work and Pensions Committee
Recommendation 6
6
We also recommend that the Government investigates opportunities to improve the occupational information recorded on...
Conclusion
We also recommend that the Government investigates opportunities to improve the occupational information recorded on death certificates. (Paragraph 32) A strategic approach to asbestos management
Government Response
Acknowledged
HM Government
Acknowledged
Death certificates only record the last occupation of the deceased, which places limitations on producing mortality statistics on conditions with long latency periods such as mesothelioma. To obtain a fuller or even complete occupational history for the deceased would require that: • Additional occupation information be collected by the death registration and coronial systems, or • The Office for National Statistics (ONS) link the death registration data it holds to other sources to try and obtain this information The collection of additional occupational information through the death registration and/or coronial process would be challenging, could introduce bias, and is beyond ONS’s control; it would require collaboration with the Department for Health and Social Care, the General Register Office and Ministry of Justice, and require their buy in to change processes and systems. As such this approach is not recommended.