8206973 Occupational injuries among migrant workers presenting to the emergency department in Victoria, Australia

<h3>Objective</h3> Work-related injuries occur in about 4% of the Australian working population and many injured persons end up in the hospital emergency department(ED). A fifth of ED visits are injury-related, with 10% being work-related. International studies shown increased injury rates among migrant workers, but this information is missing for Victoria, a multicultural society with a diverse workforce. This study compared occupational injury rates by country of birth in patients presenting to EDs in Victoria, Australia. <h3>Material and Methods</h3> Data were derived from the Victorian Emergency Minimum Dataset(VEMD, 01/07/2019–30/06/2023) which is collected by Victoria’s Department of Health and housed by the Victorian Injury Surveillance Unit. Work-related injury presentations for persons aged 15-69years were identified using diagnoses codes, activity when injured and workers’ compensation indicators. Injury rates were calculated using Australian Bureau of Statistics’ 2021 Labour Force data, stratified by age group, sex and country of birth. <h3>Results</h3> There were 111717 ED presentations with work-related injuries, a rate of 9 per 1000 employed persons. The highest rates were for persons born in Sudan (26 per 1000), Afghanistan (23 per 1000), Samoa (21 per 1000), Tonga (18 per 1000) and Cook Islands (17 per 1000) workers. The rates among Australia- and New Zealand-born workers were similar, 11 per 1000 workers, whilst for workers born in India and China 4.3 and 3.8 per 1000, respectively. The injury presentation rates were further compared by age, sex, case severity and injury type. <h3>Conclusions</h3> ED presentations for work-related injuries varied substantially by country of birth, calling for further explorations to understand these discrepancies. It is noteworthy that not all persons with work-related injuries present to ED. Hence consideration of health-seeking behaviour patterns by migrant status is imperative.