Contact

848 Main Street East
Hamilton, Ontario
L8M 1L9
Tel. (905) 549-2552 or 1-800-263-2129
Fax: (905) 549-7993
Email: hamilton@ohcow.on.ca
Website: http://www.ohcow.on.ca

Staff

Director:
Charles Emberson

Doctors:
Ken Burgess
Brian Gibson
Ted Haines 
Mike Pysklywec
Sam Remtulla

Industrial Hygienists:
John Oudyk
Murray Lawrence

Occupational Health Nurses:
Roger Pulver
Michelle Tew

Ergonomist:
Laura Munro

Administrative Assistants:
Janet Latimer
Marilyn Lee-Hannah

Hamilton Local Advisory Council Members

Hamilton 2004 Highlights

On June 4, OHCOW hosted a 15^th anniversary celebration of OHCOW with a day of workshops and luncheon guest speakers.  The Hamilton Clinic, the first of the five current Occupational Health Clinics across the province, was opened in February of 1989 as a result of the hard work and determination of the Hamilton and District Labour Council, labour organizations and community partners.  Leo Gerard, International President of the United Steelworkers of America and Andrea Horwath, MPP for Hamilton East both spoke to the more than 100 attendees at the celebration.  Educational workshops were provided by the Hamilton staff.   

Satellite Clinics:

OHCOW Hamilton provides outreach clinic services to St.Catharines/Niagara, London, Cambridge/ Kitchener-Waterloo/Guelph and other areas of south-central Ontario. 

Clients Served:

OHCOW Hamilton dealt with 178 new patient cases for 2004.   

One such case was that of a worker ill with pancreatic cancer.  The individual contacted OHCOW Hamilton to investigate the relationship between his disease and exposure prior to filing a Form 8.  OHCOW met with the individual, co-workers from the plant, and health and safety representatives.  OHCOW did an exposure review, literature search, analysis and put together an evidence based report and filed a claim with the Workplace Safety and Insurance Board.  Entitlement was granted in January of 2005 with the worker’s widow and two children provided for.  With this established link between the illness and the workplace exposure, another worker with same exposure and disease has also filed a claim. Hazards have been identified in workplace and the JH&SC is working on eliminating or reducing the risk factors. 

OHCOW Hamilton continues to work on cases involving mercury exposure on Great Lakes freighters.  Seven individuals have been identified with mercury exposure and neurological disorders, with two cases accepted by the WSIB in 2004.  The workplace has been charged by the federal government and is scheduled for court in the spring of 2005.  As a result of our involvement, a number of freighters have had mercury ballast systems replaced and control rooms rebuilt. 

Inquiries

OHCOW Hamilton responded to 513 inquiries or requests for information. 

Many ergonomic inquiries were received on the issues of repetitive strain injuries and office ergonomics.  Many injured workers contacted OHCOW for advice on how to improve their workstations and work habits. The Humidex plan continues to be a major source of hygiene inquiries.  IAQ is also an issue of interest with inquiries tending to involve exposures to chemicals, mould and electromagnetic fields. Other inquiries we have dealt with include concerns with asbestos, metalworking fluids (MWFs), solvents, dioxin, heavy metals, carbon monoxide, cancer, dermatitis and respiratory issues.  OHCOW Hamilton has supplied relevant information and direction to health and safety representatives in offices, schools, and health care facilities to assist them in dealing effectively with problems.  Similarly, with regard to chemical exposures they have provided representatives with information they can use regarding the toxic hazard, clean-up procedure, engineering controls, protective equipment, control program issues, etc. 

Group Projects:

One hundred and seventeen (117) group cases were started at OHCOW Hamilton in 2004.     

Approximately half of the groups dealing with ergonomic concerns were for office ergonomics.  These groups included very large workplaces (government offices), as well as several small workplaces.  With these groups, questionnaires were administered, ergonomic assessments were completed and education sessions delivered around the topic of office ergonomics.  The other ergonomic groups consisted of heavy industries (foundries, manufacturers) long term care facilities, libraries, a museum and a radio station.  OHCOW Hamilton educated several workplace committees to allow them to become more self sufficient. This was done by reviewing/presenting our ergonomic reports back to the committee in person to ensure they had a full grasp of the material within the report, as well as a clear direction of where the next step in prevention lies.  In a number of  interventions, ergonomic committees were set-up in the workplace to provide them with the tools and ability to identify and eliminate the risk factors causing problems. 

OHCOW Hamilton hygienists worked with a large suburban school board to evaluate the air quality in a cross sectional sampling of 10 schools.  Each school was visited, inspected and measurements and photos taken.  The pictures in particular made maintenance and administration aware of serious problems with air quality in schools across the school board.  Questionnaires were filled out by all occupants and a final report presented to Board officials responsible for buildings and maintenance and JH&SC.  The scope and severity of IAQ problems were identified and the recommendations provided would improve conditions and thus, eliminate medical problems and concerns.  This allowed decision makers to include budget items for improvement.  The board is evaluating recommendations and implementation. Numerous issues relating to old and malfunctioning ventilation systems, building maintenance issue (water leaks) and operating practices were identified.             

The Research Project on Metalworking Fluids and Asthma, funded by the Research Advisory Council (RAC) was continued throughout 2004.  As well, OHCOW Hamilton continues its partnership with the Occupational Health Program at McMaster on the Firefighters Project, MWFs, and is developing a joint project on manganese exposure. 

Outreach/Other Activities:

The year 2004 was an active and challenging one in terms of knowledge transfer.  Staff from the clinic were involved in 117 outreach/knowledge transfer presentations to many organizations and groups. 

The Humidex Heat Stress plan continues to be of great interest to many employers, unions and workers.  Presentations were made to workplaces, trade conferences and union groups interested in hearing about the plan.  Inquiries were also received concerning the plan from across Canada and throughout the world (e.g. Australia, Spain).   A number of workplaces have shared data and experiences with implementing Humidex plan including a large vehicle assembly plant in Oshawa.   Workers, JH&SCs, unions and employers are becoming more aware of the hazards associated with heat stress.  Numerous workplaces have adopted the Humidex heat stress plan or have improved existing plans.            

OHCOW Hamilton worked with the WSIB and other health and safety associations to develop a heat stress action plan which is intended to be sent to all employers in Ontario.  This has a great potential to impact many workplaces in the way they deal – or don’t deal – with heat stress. This knowledge and practice will reduce worker discomfort and health problems related to heat stress.  This on going project reaches more workplaces yearly. 

Presentations:

Educational sessions on ergonomic issues were delivered to several groups on topics ranging from “ergonomics basics” to the role and responsibilities of ergonomic committees in the workplace.  An assortment of presentations were delivered to various union labour council groups.  (local IAPA conferences, McMaster DOHS Program, Degroote School of Business, McMaster Occupational Health Rounds, The United Way and local prenatal fairs. These sessions have helped to empower workers, raise awareness of ergonomics and work-related musculoskeletal injuries and helped to promote the services offered by OHCOW. 

The local ergonomics group continued to meet and share information (the group consists of the WSIB, MOL, and IAPA ergonomists in the Hamilton area). These meetings help to communicate what we are doing, keep up-to-date on new information relevant to the profession and find ways to work together. 

Other educational sessions were provided throughout the year including such topics as "creating aging worker friendly workplace", the aging worker and ergonomics, asbestos exposure, occupational asthma, heat stress, indoor air quality, cancer, exposure levels, some chemicals and heavy metals.  OHCOW has been requested to provide further such educationals or presentations on shiftwork and sleep problems. 

OHCOW has been involved in the Ministry of Labour’s Minister’s Action Plan which guides the Minister in setting Health and Safety priorities. 

Prevention Partners and Joint Ventures

OHCOW has been involved with a variety of activities aimed at gaining an understanding of migrant farmworker health and safety issues.  These activities are targeted to reach a population that has been under serviced or not serviced at all by the health and safety community. Inquiries concerning migrant farmworker issues are increasing steadily and many of these are specific to agricultural chemical exposure.  This increase has occurred due to the increased outreach and repeated contacts with the UFCW centres as well as activist and church groups.   We have met with a number of migrant workers and have provided educational materials in print and video in Spanish and English.  Working with the Workers Health and Safety Centre, the UFCW and volunteers, OHCOW Hamilton is developing a farmworker health and safety information project, providing basic health and safety materials in both languages. This project involves working with labour, community groups, church groups, community activists, legal groups, health care providers and others with a stake in providing services to the migrant farmworker community.  OHCOW Hamilton anticipates piloting it with the Spanish-speaking farmworkers at a tobacco and ginseng farm in the Simcoe area in the spring/summer 2005. 

A project was has  begun in 2004 to provide essential information about the health effects of exposures to agricultural chemicals to physicians and other primary care providers who are likely to be in contact with agricultural workers.  OHCOW Hamilton met with health care providers in the Simcoe area and discussed with them the hazards and outcomes.  They were provided  with literature both in English and Spanish that deal with farm work related health problems and how these can be prevented.  Through the positive feedback we have received from these groups, we have been able to get more literature on hazards which we will use in 2005 to reach a greater portion of the medical community.