Occupational cancer kills more Canadians every year than any other work-related injury, disease or disorder. Yet while thousands of Canadians die annually from occupational disease, many are like Forestell — overlooked by government statistics that only count accepted claims from provincial compensation boards. No other system or organization collects data related to the number of disease cases caused by exposure to occupational carcinogens, or their economic impact. That poses significant problems for prevention efforts, because it hides troubling trends and allows the real cost of occupational disease to disappear into the larger health care system. Until recently, half of all occupational disease claims for cancer, lung disease and other long-term illnesses filed in Ontario were denied.

Source: thestar May 08, 2020 13:07 UTC