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Data Element Detail

Person-occupation (QHD job code)
Identifying and Definitional Attributes
QH 042728 v1
Data Element
Data Element
Draft
08-Nov-2011		Current
21-Dec-2011		Superseded
30-Jun-2013
Standard
01-Jul-1998
30-Jun-2013
The job or duties in which the person is principally engaged.
Injury surveillance
Job code
Main occupation
Representational Attributes
Numeric Character
Code
N(8)
8
8
Permissible Values

Permissible_values

A valid code from the corporate reference data system (CRDS) JOBCOD (QH job designation codes) General Reference data set maintained by the Statistical Standards Unit (SSU), Health Statistics Centre.
Supplementary Values

Supplemenary_values

-
Collection and Usage Attributes
A job in any given establishment is a set of tasks designed to be performed by one individual in return for a wage or salary. An occupation is a set of jobs with similar sets of tasks. For persons with more than one job, the main job is the one in which the person works the most hours.

Caution is advised in its use with regard to service providers as their activity as a service provider may not be their main occupation.
This data element should only be collected from people whose Labour force status is employed.

Occupation is too complex and diverse an issue to fit neatly into any useable small group of categories. Therefore the Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) recommend that this data element be collected by using the following two open-ended questions:
Q1. In the main job held last week (or other recent reference period), what was your/the person's occupation?
Q2. What are the main tasks that you/the person usually perform in that occupation?

The information gained from these two questions can then be used to select an appropriate code from the QHD job codes.

If only one question is asked, question one should be used. The use of question one only, however, sometimes elicits responses which do not provide a clear occupation title and specification of tasks performed. As a result accurate coding at unit group or occupation level may not be possible.

While agencies are encouraged to use the recommended questions described above, it is acknowledged that this is not always possible in practice. For example, where the data collection is a by-product of the provision of a health or community service, the information may be ascertained using different means. However, the recommended questions should be used wherever possible.
There is considerable user demand for data on occupation-related injury and illness, including from WorkSafe Australia and from industry, where unnecessary production costs are known in some areas and suspected to be related to others in work-related illness, injury and disability.
This data element may be useful in gaining an understanding of a client's situation and needs. For example, the occupation of a person with a disability may be directly relevant to the type of aids that they require.
The Queensland Health Job Designation Codes (QHD job codes) is a static list of occupation codes that is maintained by the Human Resource Workforce Informatics Unit and currently maps QHD job codes hierarchically to the superseded Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) classification, the Australian Standard Classification of Occupations (ASCO). Future development of the QHD job codes will include mapping hierarchically to the current Australian Bureau of Statistics Australian and New Zealand Standard Classification of Occupations (ANZSCO).
Relational Attributes
Related Metadata References

Related Metadata References_IR

  • 1 - 2
ViewRelationshipMetadata Item TypeMetadata Item SubtypeNameIdentifier & VersionApproval Status
SupersedesData ElementData ElementJob designation codeQH 040218 Version 1Superseded
Has been superseded byData ElementData ElementPerson-occupation (QHD job code)QH 042728 Version 2Current
Implementation in Metadata Sets

Implemented

  • 1 - 1
ViewMetadata Item TypeMetadata Item SubtypeNameIdentifer & VersionObligationApproval StatusEffective FromEffective To
Information AssetData CollectionDecision Support System (DSS) Necto Data CollectionQH 020049 Version 1ConditionalSuperseded01-Jul-199830-Jun-2013
Source and Reference Attributes
Job code; Job designation; Occupation;