Cancer top workplace killer

Unions team up to produce guide to raise awareness among employers

After 30 years of working in an auto parts plant in southern Ontario, during which time he was continuously exposed to metalworking fluid, Bud Jimmerfield developed esophageal cancer. The married father of eight was a Canadian Auto Workers (CAW) local union president and had been the full-time health and safety representative in his factory.

“Here he was a giant of a man and he withered away to next to nothing,” said Sari Sairanen, the CAW’s national health, safety and environment director.

During the CAW’s December 1997 council meeting, Jimmerfield told those gathered that if he could do it again and choose between his paycheque or his life, he would opt for his life. Jimmerfield died one month later on Jan. 31, 1998.

Unfortunately, Jimmerfield wasn’t the only CAW member to develop occupational cancer. The union was finding more and more workers were getting sick as they got older.

“Something had to be done about that,” said Sairanen.

Shortly after Jimmerfield’s death, the CAW rolled out its prevent cancer campaign. As part of the campaign, CAW health and safety representatives across the country received a binder identifying the known carcinogens that could be present in the workplace and less harmful, or even benign, substitutes.

As a result of the campaign, Ford, General Motors and DaimlerChrysler banned metalworking fluid, the substance that led to Jimmerfield’s cancer, and replaced it with a less harmful substance.

“That’s what the campaign is about, creating awareness,” said Sairanen. “You have to put it to use and identify those carcinogens that are in the workplace and completely eliminate them, that’s the ultimate goal, and if you can’t completely eliminate that particular compound, then you have to find a less harmful one and then you regulate your exposures to that.”

According to the World Health Organization (WHO), at least 200,000 people die worldwide from occupational cancers every year.

“Occupational cancer is the most common work-related cause of death, ahead of other work-related diseases and accidents, but it is not taken seriously by regulators or employers,” said Marcello Malentacchi, general secretary of the International Metalworkers’ Federation.

To help all unions make the same kind of improvements the CAW has made, 11 international trade unions, including the International Metalworkers’ Federation, have released Occupational Cancer/Zero Cancer: A Union Guide to Prevention.

The guide is a good way to raise awareness about occupational cancers, said Paul Demers, a professor at the University of British Columbia school of occupational health and hygiene.

“The important point is that cancer due to workplace carcinogens is preventable,” he said. “However, the types of materials that people will need will be much more specific.”

Employers should check the lists of known carcinogens available from the International Agency for Research on Cancer and the United States Toxicology Program to see if products they’re currently using are hazardous and to ensure new products aren’t carcinogenic, said Demers.

“If you can’t avoid the use of known carcinogens, reduce the levels of exposure wherever possible,” he said.

It’s important to begin reducing exposure as soon as possible. The effects of exposure often don’t manifest for many years. Even though asbestos has been banned for decades, the incidence of asbestos-related cancers has been increasing as those who were exposed 20 and 30 years ago get older, said Demers.

Even though the WHO numbers are staggering, Demers warns the number of occupational cancers is based on approximations.

“It’s difficult to assign a specific cause to a cancer,” he said. As such, there are no current numbers on the incidence of occupational cancers in Canada, however the National Cancer Institute of Canada is working to develop at least a rough approximation, said Demers.

Occupational cancer is a concern for all employers. Exposure to carcinogens isn’t limited to just a few industries, said Demers.

When it comes to radiation exposure, those in health care, nuclear industries, industrial radiography and even the veterinarian field are exposed during the course of their work. Exposure to diesel is prevalent in mining, manufacturing, transportation and even among firefighters and paramedics.

And exposure to benzene, a known carcinogen linked to leukemia, can occur in the transportation, petrochemical, rubber and printing industries as well as with gas station attendants.

Knowing the high-risk jobs is important to be able to target prevention campaigns to workers with the highest exposures, said Demers. However, the ultimate goal is to reduce or eliminate all levels of exposure.

“If you expose enough people, even at a lower level, you’re still going to generate cancer,” he said.

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