Fatal work incidents result in an array of government responses, and in countries such as the United Kingdom and Australia, this may include the holding of coronial inquests. A common theme from the scant literature is that family members have a strong need to know how and why their loved one died. The inquisitorial nature of inquests suggests potential in uncovering this information, although little is known about families’ experiences with these proceedings. Interviews with 40 bereaved relatives explored their views and experiences of inquests. Findings suggest that families, often frustrated with other investigative processes, want inquests to provide a better understanding of how and why the death occurred, uncover any failings/responsibilities, and thereby move closer to a sense of justice being obtained for the deceased. Families identified problems perceived to impair the process and where improvements could be made to secure a more effective and meaningful institutional response to the fatality.

Item Type:	Refereed Article
Keywords:	fatal work incidents, coronial inquest, family, traumatic bereavement, justice
Research Division:	Commerce, Management, Tourism and Services
Research Group:	Strategy, management and organisational behaviour
Research Field:	Organisational behaviour
Objective Division:	Health
Objective Group:	Public health (excl. specific population health)
Objective Field:	Behaviour and health
UTAS Author:	Bohle, P (Professor Philip Bohle)
ID Code:	130394
Year Published:	2018
Web of Science® Times Cited:	9
Deposited By:	TSBE
Deposited On:	2019-01-23
Last Modified:	2019-05-02
Downloads:	0