Ontario launches occupational cancer review

TORONTO — The Ontario government is launching a review of occupational cancers.

According to a release, the review will help ensure that best practices and the most up-to-date information are considered with respect to compensation.

Through Cancer Care Ontario, Dr. Paul Demers has been named to conduct the review and report back to the Ministry of Labour (MOL) by the end of the year. Demers is director of the Occupational Cancer Research Centre in Ontario, a professor at the University of Toronto’s Dalla Lana School of Public Health and a senior scientist for prevention, screening and cancer control with Cancer Care Ontario.

The review will address and provide recommendations on three questions: How can scientific evidence best be used in determining whether a cancer is work-related, particularly in cases of multiple exposures? Are there best practices in other jurisdictions that Ontario should consider adopting? As scientific evidence evolves around occupational cancer, what criteria should the MOL consider in developing legislative policy?

The review and recommendations will also help the Workplace Safety and Insurance Board (WSIB) with advice as it reviews occupational disease claims, the release indicates.

“There is a growing awareness that workplace chemicals and radiation are an important cause of cancer,” said Demers in a statement. “While recognition of individual causes can be challenging, it is important that we move forward using the best and most up-to-date scientific evidence.”

The MOL, working with the WSIB and health and safety association partners, will also develop an Occupational Disease and Illness Prevention Strategy.

It is anticipated to further the understanding of occupational disease and hazardous substances in the workplace; strengthen workplace protections; build awareness and education among Ontarians about occupational illness prevention; and establish partnerships to help improve the management of occupational illness in the province.

More workers die from occupational diseases than workplace incidents in Ontario. In 2017, 146 workers died from work related illness, while 81 died from traumatic injuries, the release states. The most common occupational diseases leading to fatality claims include mesothelioma, lung and bronchial cancers, and asbestosis.