Webinar Series: Occupational Illness and Disease Prevention

Every Exposure Tells A Story
2026

Target Audience:
Prevention System Partners and Stakeholders; Health and Safety Professionals; Medical and Scientific Researchers; Worker Advocates; Joint Health and Safety Committee Members; as well as interested Workers, Supervisors, Management and Owners from the workplaces of Ontario.

Fall 2026 Session

Week 1: October 29, 2026

Occ|tober and Beyond returns for its 11th annual occupational illness and disease prevention webinar series. This five-week series showcases lived workplace experience, research developments, and practical resources related to occupational illness and disease prevention.

This year, each week will explore a different story: worker histories, hidden exposures, hearing loss risks, women’s health experiences, monitoring data and more.

Part 1: Occupational Disease Cluster Investigations: Current Status & Emerging Success

Speakers: Dr. Andrew Zarnke, Executive Director, OHCOW

Part 2: Algoma Steel: voluntary worker employment exposure history initiative

Speakers: Derrick Chung, ROH, OHCOW, Jessica Montgomery, OHC, OHCOW

This presentation provides an overview of OHCOW’s Algoma Steel Voluntary Worker Employment Exposure History Initiative. It describes the project’s objectives, development and worker interview process, and standardized work history reports used to document jobs, tasks, occupational exposures and exposure modifiers. It also explains how the resulting information will support current and future occupational disease claims and contribute to a searchable exposure database.

See Week 1 Webinars

Week 2: November 5, 2026

Part 1: It’s time to improve occupational exposure and disease statistics in Canada

Speaker: Dr. Paul Demers, Director, OCRC

Part 2: Navigating the nuances of dermal exposure assessment

Speaker: Dr Melanie Gorman Ng, Adjunct Professor, UBC

Part 3: Healthworker's Drug Exposure Hazards

Speaker: Dr. Chun-Yip Hon, Associate Professor, TMU

See Week 2 Webinars

All
2015
2016
2017
2018
2019
2020
2021
2022
2023
2024
2025
Aluminum
Apps
Asbestos
Asthma
Bladder Cancer
Cancer
Carcinogens
Cardiovascular
Changing Workplace
Chemical
chemicals
Cluster Investigation
cluster projects
Communication
Community
Community Health
COPD
Critical Injuries
Dermal exposure
Dermal Exposure Assessment Method
dermatitis
Diesel Exhaust
drug exposure
Dust
Endocrine Disrupting Chemicals
Esthetics
Exposure
Exposure Limits
exposure statistics
exposures
Fatalities
First Responders
Hazard / Control Banding
Hazard and Control Banding
Hazard Assessment
healthworker's exposure
Healthy Workplaces
Illness and Disease
Indoor Air Quality (IAQ)
Industrial / Commercial Ergonomics
Infection Control
Initiatives
Lead
Lung Cancer
Lung Disease
McIntyre
McIntyre Powder
Mental Health
Mental Injury
Migrant Farm Workers
Mining
ministry
mlitsd
Musculoskeletal Disorders
Noise
Noise-Induced Hearing Loss (NIHL)
Occ-tober
occupational disease
Occupational Health
Occupational Hygiene
Occupational Medicine
ODAP
Office Ergonomics
Outreach
Patient Information
Pharmaceutical
Prevention
primary care
Radiation
Regional Risk
Regulations
Research / Science
Respiratory
Risk Assessment / Management
Risk Factors
risk management
Roles / Responsibilities
sct
Silica
Silica Control Tool
Silicosis
Skin Cancer
Skin Disease
Small Business
Surveillance
Surveys
Telecommunications
Tools and Calculators
Toxicants
Toxins
Training
Transmission / Exposure Control
Transportation
UV / Solar / Sun
Ventilation
Vulnerability
WHMIS
worker documentation
workplace exposures
workplace hazards
WSIB

Occ|tober and Beyond 2026 Week 2

Exposure and disease statistics: Dr. Paul Demers, Director, OCRC; Dermal exposure assessment, Dr Melanie Gorman Ng, Adjunct Professor, UBC; Healthcare workers’ drug exposures, Dr. Chun-Yip Hon, Associate Professor, TMU