Abestos Disease tops for Worker Deaths in British Columbia

September 9th, 2010. By LucyC

You would think in this day and age that some common sense would prevail when it comes to the production and dissemination of carcinogenic materials. To be clear, I’m defining common sense as meaning erring on the side of caution, and if the substances are really lethal—not producing them at all… 

Not so, according to a new report released by Canadian health officials. The report apparently states that diseases related to asbestos are now the leading cause of workplace death in the Canadian province of British Columbia (BC). This is the kind of news you might expect to hear coming out of India, Pakistan, China, even the Canadian province of Quebec, where the infamous Jeffrey asbestos mine—among the largest open pit asbestos mine in the world—is currently fighting for its financial life. (And it looks as if the federal and provincial governments are going to support it—all in the name of  job creation—where—in the funeral business?) 

Back to BC. According to a report by The Vancouver Sun, a BC-based newspaper, “WorkSafe BC documents some 50 asbestos-related workplace deaths annually, but the true toll is far higher, as agency statistics only cover workers who have filed compensation claims. 

‘Among BC workers alone, it is estimated that 1,500 workers will die from asbestos-caused disease over the next five years,” a 2008 report from the Rideau Institute in Ottawa states “And it is known that many cases of asbestos-caused disease are not recognized as such and not captured in the figures.’ ” 

The University of  British Columbia (UBC) is also weighing in stating that its study of health records and workers’ compensation data from 1992 to 2004 revealed that only 23 percent of people who contracted asbestosis filed provincial workers’ compensation claims. Furthermore, less than 50 percent of all known cases of asbestos mesothelioma—which is terminal in all cases—are compensated by WorkSafe BC, the UBC study showed. 

Larry Stoffman, who chaired a Health Canada committee on asbestos for eight years, told The Vancouver Sun, “It’s a steady stream of death. There are cases where people have only been exposed for one day and they ended up with mesothelioma 30 years later.”

So who are the people affected by asbestos in the workplace? Metal workers and mechanics make up 21 percent of asbestos disease claimants, largely due to their exposure to heavy asbestos used in insulation in metalworks and shipbuilding decades back.

Electricians reportedly make up eight percent of asbestos claimant cases, and plumbers, fitters, carpenters, painters, insulators and drywallers also demonstrate high rates of asbestos exposure.

“Contractors and do-it-yourselfers are removing asbestos without proper precautions, out of ignorance or a desire to cut costs,” Al Johnson, WorkSafe BC’s chief of construction-regulation enforcement, told The Vancouver Sun.

One town in BC—Trail—which exists largely because the Teck (formerly Cominco) zinc and lead smelting facility, has seen more than its fair share of asbestos disease. Several years ago, United Steelworkers officials started to notice a trend of disease among retired smelter workers. So they called a town meeting, to which some 80 people and their family members turned up. The next meeting had a turnout of 130 people, and the Union says that currently there are nearly 100 people who worked in the smelter between the late 00s and the late 70s who have asbestos related disease. This place is starting to sound like a Canadian version of Libby Montana—home of the infamous WR Grace vermiculate asbestos mine. Asbestos mesothelioma is no stranger to the people of Libby either. 

Make no mistake, asbestos mesothelioma is a death sentence, and a very unpleasant one at that.

“I’ve seen first-hand what some of these people go through, and their families go through, and their grandchildren, and it’s just horrible,” United Steelworkers Local 480 president Doug Jones told The Vancouver Sun. 

“Somewhere along the way somebody has to be accountable for that. Someone has to be responsible for the shortened lives that people live and the pain and suffering that all the families go through. It just doesn’t seem fair.” Fair? No. Business as usual? Yes.

Tags: Asbestos, Asbestos Mesothelioma, British Columbia, Canada, Jeffery Mine

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