>> This video series gives funeral directors guidance
and tips to improve the quality of occupation and industry items
on death certificates.
We will start the presentation with a short discussion
of what usual occupation and industry are.
To help you get the best responses
for a decedent's occupation and industry, it is important
to understand the key difference between the two,
as they can be confusing.
First, we'll talk about occupation.
It is better to ask what the decedent's occupation was first,
before asking about industry.
More people are familiar with a person's occupation,
and more easily confused about their industry.
Occupation is what a person did for a living or the type
of job they held the longest, not the kind of business
or its main activities.
Usually, the occupation is in the descriptive job title.
Some examples of occupations include package delivery driver,
registered nurse, wildland firefighter,
medical laboratory technician,
elementary school teacher, or janitor.
When you ask about occupation, you might get a vague answer.
A good prompt to get an adequate answer
for their occupation is what was their job title?
If the response is still vague, like "consultant",
you might ask, what type of consultant was she or he?
Industry is the type of business where the decedent worked.
Industry relates to what the business did,
and not necessarily what the individual did in that business.
Industries can produce either goods or services.
Some examples of industry include a movie theater,
an airport, a general hospital, a golf course, a high school,
or a beverage-bottling facility.
The photos here show mostly service production,
except for the bottling plant that produces beverages.
After you ask, "What is their industry?"
some good prompts are,
"What type of business did the company do?"
or "What did the company do or make?"
Death certificates ask for usual occupation.
Usual occupation is the occupation or job
that the person had for the longest period.
Usual industry is the kind of business
in which the person performed the occupation noted.
This may not be their most recent occupation,
or the one that paid the highest salary.
Even if they worked at an unpaid position longer
than a paid position, the paid position should be recorded
as the usual occupation.
Occupation and industry should be recorded
if the decedent was ever employed in their life.
And if they were never employed,
"never employed" should be indicated.
Be sure to collect both occupation and industry.
While either occupation or industry based
on detailed responses can be helpful,
it's easier to understand exactly what a decedent did
if both occupation and industry are collected,
so do your best to get both.
Researchers look at occupation and industry as pairs.
It's more difficult to understand each on its own.
Sometimes they need to know the industry
to understand the occupation.
It's best to have both because sometimes hazards are specific
to an occupation, and sometimes they are specific
to a certain industry.
Occupation and industry are not interchangeable.
The combination of occupation
and industry makes it clearer what a person does,
because some occupations can be found in many industries,
and industries can have people doing many occupations.
For example, someone whose occupation is janitor can work
in a variety of industries, such as a zoo,
a university, or an airport.
All of these industries need janitors, but janitors employed
in each of these industries experience very different
conditions and exposures.
Industries often have people in many different occupations.
For example, at a university, there are people
with many different occupations such as janitors, educators,
security guards, and more.
As you can see, having both the industry
and occupation gives us a fuller understanding of a person's job.
If we are only given "university" for industry
or "janitor" for occupation, we would miss the full context
of what an individual did.
Next, we recommend you view Part 3 in the series,
which looks at common vague responses
to the occupation question
and how they can be improved to be more useful.
This video was produced by the National Institute
for Occupational Safety and Health,
delivering on the nation's promise, safety and health
at work for all people through research and prevention.
To learn more, visit www.cdc.gov/niosh