A presentation made as part of OHCOW’s Occ-Disease Prevention webinar series.
March 31, 2021
Presenter: Dr. Paul Demers, Occupational Cancer Research Center (OCRC)
This session provided information and implications of Dr. Paul Demers’s January 2020 report, publicly released in July 2020 and entitled “Using Scientific Evidence and Principles to Help Determine the Work-Relatedness of Cancer”. We were honoured to have Dr. Paul Demers from the Occupational Cancer Research Center as our keynote speaker followed by a discussion with Prof. Katherine Lippel of the University of Ottawa Faculty of Law and labour activist Robert DeMatteo.
Discussions included Dr. Demers’ recommendations which include updating the presumptive lists and cancer related policies at the WSIB, enhancing the scientific capacity of the WSIB, improving access to exposure data for compensation and prevention purposes and improving recognition of occupational cancer and disease through medical education.
Several worker compensation cases will be presented for which retrospective exposure profiles were developed. They will be presented to demonstrate how cases are adjudicated in the Ontario Worker’s compensation system.
The methodology used to formulate the retrospective exposure profile will be shared, along with the medical team involvement and the process of case intake will also be demonstrated. The session will help attendees comprehend the vast amount of research involved in formulating a robust case for a patient in attempts to demonstrate exposures in their work history for establishing causal relationship for the claim to be submitted. Session attendees will learn how uncontrolled exposures from the past both minor and major can lead to occupational disease.
Learning Outcomes:
- Identify the basic steps involved in performing a retrospective exposure profile.
- Discuss the role of an Industrial Hygienist in an occupational disease workers compensation claim.
- Recognize how clinical cases help Industrial Hygienist’s understand the impact of prevention measures.
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