Participatory mapping of occupational hazards and disease among asbestos-exposed workers from a foundry and insulation complex in Canada

Our plain-English summary of Participatory mapping of occupational hazards and disease among asbestos-exposed workers from a foundry and insulation complex in Canada, by M.M. Keith, J.T. Brophy (International Journal of Occupational and Environmental Health, 2004).

The study

• Authors: M.M. Keith, J.T. Brophy
• Journal: International Journal of Occupational and Environmental Health
• Published: 2004;10(2):144-53
• Cited by: 14 articles, as counted by NIH iCite
• Read it: PubMed · Publisher

Abstract

A study of former asbestos-exposed foundry and insulation workers was carried out in Sarnia, Ontario, home to Canada's petrochemical industry, using participatory mapping to document past exposures and subsequent diseases. Before it closed, government inspectors had monitored the use of asbestos at the facility, documenting levels that were thousands of times above the current legal limit. The study was undertaken by the Occupational Health Clinics for Ontario Workers (OHCOW) and Canadian Auto Workers (CAW) to provide evidence for worker compensation claims. Using facilitated hazard mapping, former Holmes workers graphically reconstructed their workplaces and detailed their exposures. Using facilitated body mapping, workers recorded and displayed their health problems. The study uncovered a grim pattern of occupational diseases. Following the release of the results, coupled with clinically confirmed diagnoses and corroborating evidence of exposure, hundreds of former Holmes employees and their families received compensation for occupational diseases that had previously gone unrecognized.

In plain English

This descriptive case study concerned former workers of the Holmes Foundry, Caposite and Insulation complex in Sarnia, Ontario. The Occupational Health Clinics for Ontario Workers and the Canadian Auto Workers union did it to support compensation claims. Former workers drew 'hazard maps' of their workplaces from memory. Foundry workers described smoke, silica and asbestos dust everywhere, and Caposite workers recalled having no respirators. The Caposite plant used amosite asbestos. Government inspection records showed asbestos as high as 852 fibers per cubic centimeter between 1972 and 1973. At a compensation intake clinic, 120 former workers or surviving family members did 'body mapping', marking health problems on body outlines. The maps showed clusters of respiratory disease, cancers and cardiovascular disease. Proportions of problem types among 139 body-mapped health problems broadly resembled those among 326 medically supported compensation claims, though not in every category: mesothelioma was 2% in both, renal disease 5% versus 2%. The authors concluded that mapping proved to be an effective tool for data gathering. They noted that some attendees apparently skipped body mapping because of long waits.

We wrote this plain-English summary from the full article with the help of AI, and a second AI model checked each sentence against the article. It is not the authors' wording; the abstract and the article are their own account.

What the study did and found

• Design: Descriptive case study using participatory hazard mapping (workers' collective drawings of past workplaces) and body mapping (a graphic health survey), supported by a review of government inspection records
• Who was studied: Former workers of the Holmes Foundry, Caposite and Insulation complex in Sarnia, Ontario, Canada, and their surviving family members. Hazard-mapping sessions began in 1998. 120 people took part in body mapping at a compensation intake clinic, about half of those who attended. Each participant was either a former worker or a family member.
• Exposure: Asbestos dust at the foundry, at the Caposite plant (which made asbestos products using amosite) and at the rock wool insulation plant, along with silica, smoke and chemicals. Government inspection records showed asbestos as high as 852 fibers per cubic centimeter between 1972 and 1973.
• Main results:
  • In hazard-mapping sessions, foundry workers agreed that smoke, silica and asbestos dust were everywhere
  • Caposite workers recalled having no respirators
  • Government inspectors took 34 air samples at the Caposite plant in 1967; only five were below the legal limit then in place
  • The body maps showed clusterings of respiratory disease, cancers and cardiovascular disease
  • Respiratory disease made up 49 of 139 body-mapped health problems (36%) and 122 of 326 medically supported compensation claims (37%)
  • Asbestosis made up 8 of 139 body-mapped problems (6%) and 23 of 326 claims (7%)
  • Mesothelioma made up 3 of 139 body-mapped problems (2%) and 6 of 326 claims (2%)
  • Respiratory cancer made up 14 of 139 body-mapped problems (10%) and 40 of 326 claims (12%)
  • Renal disease made up 7 of 139 body-mapped problems (5%) and 5 of 326 claims (2%)
  • The authors wrote that the proportional similarities between body-mapped problems and medically supported claims supported using body-mapped data as a gross indicator of occupational health problems
  • In summer 2003 it was reported that total compensation payouts for Holmes claims were approaching $16,000,000 in lump sums and $1,115,000 per year in monthly benefits
• The authors' conclusion: The authors concluded that mapping proved to be an effective tool for gathering data. They also concluded that institutional occupational health and safety practices largely failed the Holmes workers.
• Limitations the authors state:
  • It appeared that some attendees did not take part in body mapping because of long line-ups. The authors judged this likely did not result in any particular bias.
  • Most buildings were no longer standing, so workplace layouts and features had to be drawn from memory

Topics

The National Library of Medicine indexes this study under subjects our site covers: Asbestosis.

Medical terms in this study, explained in our Lexicon: Insulator, Occupational Disease.

Related studies

• Asbestos hazard evaluation in South Korean textile production — E. Johanning, M. Goldberg, et al. (1994)
• Occupational health in Australia — W.O. Phoon (1998)
• Mortality experience of insulation workers in the United States and Canada, 1943--1976 — I.J. Selikoff, E.C. Hammond, et al. (1979)
• Asbestos-associated deaths among insulation workers in the United States and Canada, 1967-1987 — I.J. Selikoff, H. Seidman (1991)
• Mortality of brain tumors among asbestos insulation workers in the United States and Canada — H. Seidman, I.J. Selikoff, et al. (1982)
• Ford, General Motors, Chrysler, asbestos, and a "sane appreciation of the risks" — D. Egilman (2009)

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