Overrepresentation of New Workers in Jobs with Multiple Carcinogen Exposures in Canada.

Background. In Canada, understanding the demographic and job-related factors influencing the prevalence of new workers and their exposure to potential carcinogens is crucial for improving workplace safety and guiding policy interventions. Methods. Logistic regression was performed on the 2017 Labour Force Survey (LFS), to estimate the likelihood of being a new worker based on age, industry, occupation, season, and immigration status. Participants were categorized by sector and occupation using the North American Industry Classification System (NAICS) 2017 Version 1.0 and National Occupational Classification (NOC) system 2016 Version 1.0. Finally, an exposures-per-worker metric was used to highlight the hazardous exposures new workers encounter in their jobs and industries. Results. Individuals younger than 25 years had 3.24 times the odds of being new workers compared to those in the 25-39 age group (adjusted odds ratios (OR) = 3.24, 95% confidence interval (95% CI) = 3.18, 3.31). Recent immigrants (less than 10 years in the country) were more likely to be new workers than those with Canadian citizenship (OR 1.36, 95% CI: 1.32, 1.41). The total workforce exposures-per-worker metric using CAREX Canada data was 0.56. By occupation, new workers were the most overrepresented in jobs in natural resources and agriculture (20.5% new workers), where they also experienced a high exposures-per-worker metric (1.57). Conclusions. Younger workers (under 25 years) and recent immigrants who had arrived 10 or fewer years prior were more likely to be new workers, and were overrepresented in jobs with more frequent hazardous exposures (Construction, Agriculture, and Trades).

Carpal tunnel syndrome among Manitoba workers: Results from the Manitoba Occupational Disease Surveillance System.

BACKGROUND: Carpal tunnel syndrome (CTS) is associated with occupational high-force repetitive tasks and vibration. This project examines the relationship between CTS and work to: (1) identify jobs and industries with increased CTS risk; (2) explore whether there is a sex difference in the risk of CTS after controlling for occupation; and (3) determine whether any observed relationships persist after excluding Workers Compensation Board (WCB) accepted time-loss CTS claims. METHODS: We linked 95.5% of time-loss WCB claims from 2006 to 2019 to provincial administrative health data. The cohort included 143,001 unique person-occupation combinations. CTS cases were defined as at least two medical claims for (ICD-9 354) within a 12-month period or a surgical claim for CTS from 2 years before the WCB claim to 3 years after. WCB accepted CTS time-loss claims not identified by the medical claims were also included. RESULTS: A total of 4302 individuals (3.0%) met the CTS definition. Analysis revealed that the hazard ratios (HRs) of CTS vary considerably with occupation. Sex-based differences in CTS risks were observed, both in low- and high-risk occupations. In many occupations with increased HR, the HR remained elevated after excluding accepted time-loss WCB cases. CONCLUSIONS: The risk of developing CTS varied with occupation. Job titles with ergonomic risk factors had higher risks than those with lower exposures. This finding remained after eliminating time-loss compensated WCB cases, suggesting that all cases of CTS in high risk jobs are not identified in WCB statistics. Female workers in some job titles had excess CTS cases compared to male workers within the same job title.