Occ|tober 2025, Beyond Barriers: Uniting for Occupational Illness Prevention
Week 1 - October 30, 2025
MLITSD System Updates & Priorities
Part 1: MLITSD System Updates & Priorities
SPEAKERS: Dr. Joel Moody,Chief Prevention Officer; Kimberly O’Connell, OHCOW Eastern Executive Director
Part 2: Current initiatives to anticipate, recognize, evaluate and control workplace hazards.
Jasmine Kalsi, IHSA Occupational Hygienist; Steve Gore, WSN Occupational Hygienist
Week 2 - November 6, 2025
WHMIS Information & Chemical Exposures
Since it first appeared in 1988, the Workplace Hazardous Materials Information System (WHMIS) has become a core component of workplace safety program for employers in a wide range of industries. Even so, it is often viewed a routine and often bureaucratic requirement rather than a critical safeguard against injury and illness. This session will highlight, despite nearly 40 years of WHMIS, the ongoing risk to Canadian workers from chemical exposure in the workplace, then discuss some of the strategies that help improve on implementation and efficacy of WHMIS in the workplace.
Part 1: Why WHMIS Matters
Chris Sheppard - Government of Nova Scotia, ROH
Part 2: Safeguarding Workers from Silica in the Workplace Program
Madison Sieloff - WSPS Specialized Consultant; Leena Paul - WSPS Health and Safety Account Manager
Week 3 - November 13, 2025
Exposure Assessment Tools
an in-depth look at recent research and practical tools advancing our understanding of occupational exposure risks and prevention strategies. This session will feature findings from two large-scale epidemiologic studies on occupational co-exposures and cancer risk, along with an introduction to a new silica exposure control resource for surface mining operations. Speaker: Melanie Gorman Ng - BCCSA Occupational Hygienist
Part 1: Silica Control Tool for Surface Mining
Melanie Gorman Ng - BCCSA Occupational Hygienist
Part 2: Assessing co-exposure interactions between occupational hazards among workers: for lung and bladder cancer
Speakers: Jeavana Sritharan - OCRC Scientist, Tracy Kirkham - OCRC Associate Director and Scientist
Week 4 - November 20, 2025
Occupational Diseases, Combatting Under Reporting
During Week 4 we will unpack key factors contributing to the under-reporting and under-recognition of occupational illnesses, as well as discuss strategies for system improvement. In particular, we will discuss: (1) Tools for identifying research studies with potential conflicts of interest (e.g. industry-funded studies), (2) Strategies for empowering workers during investigations of suspected disease clusters and (3) Recommendations for system improvement from the workers' perspective.
Part 1: "Doubt is their Product" Identifying Industry-funded Research on Carcignogens.
Dr. Nate DeBono - OCRC Scientist, Epidemiology
Part 2: Addressing Under-Recognition of Occupational Disease: The Role of Worker Health Clinics
Dr. Sarah Rhodes - OHCOW Director, Projects; Dr. Nate DeBono - OCRC Scientist, Epidemiology
Week 5 - November 27, 2025
Protecting Vulnerable Workers
Part 1: Ontario Pesticide Safety Survey for Migrant Agricultural Workers (OPPESSMAW)
Eduardo Huesca, OHCOW; Dr. Anelyse Weiler, University of Victoria; Cynthia Mora, OHCOW
Part 2: OHCOW’s Nail Salon Project
Zohreh Ebrahimi (OHCOW), Kevin Hedges (OHCOW), Anh Nguyen (OHCOW)
Part 3: Heat Stress and Ontario Temporary Foreign Agricultural Worker
Eduardo Huesca (OHCOW), Azuani Cano (OHCOW), Daisy Rivadeneira (OHCOW)
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