Funeral directors play a critical role in obtaining information researchers need to examine whether a person’s job could be related to their cause of death. The data may be used in public health prevention and intervention activities. To ensure the best data are collected, it is important to: 1) understand that occupation is different from industry, 2) collect usual occupation and corresponding industry, and 3) provide sufficient detail of the occupation and industry. If the occupation and industry information on a death certificate is incomplete or inaccurate, researchers will not be able to correctly identify links between a cause of death and a specific occupation or industry.
Uses of Usual Occupation and Industry Information
- Detect new illnesses or injuries occurring in relation to specific industries or occupations
- Monitor known associations between job hazards and illnesses (e.g., Black Lung Disease, once thought to be on the decline within the coal industry, reemerged in 2019)
- Calculate burden of illness for specific industries or occupations to prioritize research
- Guide prevention efforts and more in-depth research on links between work and health
Occupation Is Different From Industry
Occupation is what the person did for a living or the type of job they had – usually, this is the job title. Examples include architects, registered nurses, computer programmers, medical laboratory technicians, elementary school teachers, and auto mechanics. Industry is the type of business or activity where the person worked. Industry pertains only to what the
business does and not what the worker did at that business. Examples include a movie theater, an airline, a general hospital, a golf course, a high school, and a beer bottling facility.
Usual Occupation Is the Longest-held Occupation
Death certificates ask for USUAL occupation. Usual occupation is the job the person held for the longest amount of time. This may not be their most recent or current occupation or the one that paid the highest salary.
The usual industry is the type of business associated with the usual occupation.
Get the Best Occupation and Industry Information
- Fill out the occupation and industry information for every decedent ever employed during their lifetime. If you determine they were never employed, please indicate “Never worked.”
- Do not enter retired or disabled.
- If a person was retired, that generally indicates they had an occupation at some point. Record the longest-held occupation and corresponding industry.
- People who had a disability often still worked with their disability or had a job before the disability. If having a disability prevented them from ever having a job, please enter “Never Worked.”
- If you get a vague answer, follow up with a prompt.
- For occupation, ask, “What was their job title?” Or, if the response provided is still vague, such as “consultant,” ask, “What type of consultant were they?”
- For industry, if given a vague answer such as “business” or “manufacturing,” ask, “What type of business was it?” or “What did their company do or make?” Even “healthcare” is not quite specific enough. Ask “What type of healthcare? A hospital? A doctor’s office? A dentist’s office?”
- It is important to collect both occupation and industry. Job hazards for the same occupation can vary depending on the industry where a person worked. Please do your best to get both.
For more detailed information on collecting the best industry and occupation data, please visit
https://www.cdc.gov/niosh/docs/2012-149/default.html.
Content source: National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health
