A mining worker’s exposure to asbestos did not cause his colon cancer, the Ontario Workplace Safety and Insurance Appeals Tribunal has held.
The worker worked for a “nickel producer” for approximately 38 years from 1959 to 1997, first in a mill, then in a smelter, and then in maintenance and construction. Less than 3 years after he retired, he was diagnosed with colon cancer.
The WSIAT found that although the worker had been exposed to asbestos, the exposure was not of a “continuous and repetitive nature” or a “major component” of his work.
The WSIAT also accepted the evidence of a specialist in occupational medicine that the medical literature overwhelmingly supports the statement that colon cancer is not related to asbestos exposure, and that there was no evidence of a relationship between the worker’s exposure and his colon cancer.
2012 ONWSIAT 4: http://www.wsiat.on.ca/Decisions/2012/2293%2006.pdf
