Running on Empty: Ontario Hospital Workers' Mental Health and Well-Being Deteriorating Under Austerity-Driven System.

The well-being of health care workers (HCWs) and the public in Ontario, Canada is at risk as the province's health care system is strained by neoliberal restructuring and an aging population. Deteriorating working conditions that preceded the COVID-19 pandemic further declined as the added challenges took their toll on the work force, physically and mentally. The pandemic-weary hospital staff, predominantly women, many racialized, are facing unprecedented challenges. They are experiencing stress, anxiety, and burnout from staffing shortages and the resulting increased workloads, long hours, and violence. Comprehensive telephone interviews were conducted with 26 HCWs from less highly paid occupations in a range of hospitals across the province. Thematic analysis reveals a critical need for policies and legislation ensuring increased funding, hospital capacity, and reduced wait times while providing HCWs with fair and equitable wages, increased staffing, mental health supports, greater respect and acknowledgment, and strong protections from violence and other workplace hazards.

Sacrificed: Ontario Healthcare Workers in the Time of COVID-19.

Healthcare workers (HCWs) in Ontario, Canada have faced unprecedented risks during the COVID-19 pandemic. They have been infected at an elevated rate compared to the general public. HCWs have argued for better protections with minimal success. A worldwide shortage of N95s and comparable respirators appears to have influenced guidelines for protection, which stand at odds with increasing scientific evidence. In-depth interviews were conducted with ten frontline HCWs about their concerns. They reported that the risk of contracting COVID-19 and infecting family members has created intense anxiety. This, in conjunction with understaffing and an increased workload, has resulted in exhaustion and burnout. HCWs feel abandoned by their governments, which failed to prepare for an inevitable epidemic, despite recommendations. The knowledge that they are at increased risk of infection due to lack of protection has resulted in anger, frustration, fear, and a sense of violation that may have long-lasting implications.Sacrifié: Le personnel de la santé ontarien à l'époque de la COVID-19RésuméEn Ontario, au Canada, le personnel de la santé a eu à faire face à des risques sans précédent durant la pandémie de COVID-19. On y a constaté un taux d'infection plus élevé chez les travailleuses et travailleurs de la santé (TTS) qu'au sein de la population en général. Les TTS ont revendiqué des moyens de protection améliorés, sans grand succès. Une pénurie mondiale de masques respirateurs de type N95 ou similaires semble avoir joué sur les directives en matière de protection, qui ne cadrent pas avec une accumulation de preuves scientifiques. Lors d'entretiens en profondeur, dix TTS de première ligne ont été invités à donner leur avis sur la situation. à les entendre, le risque de contracter la COVID-19 et d'infecter les membres de leur famille leur cause beaucoup d'anxiété. Associée à un manque de personnel et à une charge de travail accrue, cette anxiété se traduit par un épuisement physique et professionnel. Les TTS se sentent abandonnés par leurs gouvernements, qui ont manqué de se préparer à l'inévitabilité d'une épidémie, malgré ce qui leur avait été recommandé. Leur réalisation d'être exposés à un plus grand risque d'infection par manque d'équipement de protection s'est muée en colère, frustration et peur, et en un sentiment de violation de leurs droits dont on peut craindre qu'il subsiste fort longtemps.

Breaking Point: Violence Against Long-Term Care Staff.

Direct resident care in long-term care facilities is carried out predominantly by personal support workers and registered practical nurses, the majority of whom are women. They experience physical, verbal, and sexual violence from residents on a regular basis. To explore this widespread problem, fifty-six staff in seven communities in Ontario, Canada, were consulted. They identified such immediate causes of violence as resident fear, confusion, and agitation and such underlying causes as task-driven organization of work, understaffing, inappropriate resident placement, and inadequate time for relational care. They saw violence as symptomatic of an institution that undervalues both its staff and residents. They described how violence affects their own health and well-being-causing injuries, unaddressed emotional trauma, job dissatisfaction, and burnout. They outlined barriers to preventing violence, such as insufficient training and resources, systemic underfunding, lack of recognition of the severity and ubiquity of the phenomenon, and limited public awareness.

Assaulted and Unheard: Violence Against Healthcare Staff.

Healthcare workers regularly face the risk of violent physical, sexual, and verbal assault from their patients. To explore this phenomenon, a collaborative descriptive qualitative study was undertaken by university-affiliated researchers and a union council representing registered practical nurses, personal support workers, and other healthcare staff in Ontario, Canada. A total of fifty-four healthcare workers from diverse communities were consulted about their experiences and ideas. They described violence-related physical, psychological, interpersonal, and financial effects. They put forward such ideas for prevention strategies as increased staffing, enhanced security, personal alarms, building design changes, "zero tolerance" policies, simplified reporting, using the criminal justice system, better training, and flagging. They reported such barriers to eliminating risks as the normalization of violence; underreporting; lack of respect from patients, visitors, higher status professionals, and supervisors; poor communication; and the threat of reprisal for speaking publicly. Inadequate postincident psychological and financial support compounded their distress.

Chemical exposures of women workers in the plastics industry with particular reference to breast cancer and reproductive hazards.

Despite concern about the harmful effects of substances contained in various plastic consumer products, little attention has focused on the more heavily exposed women working in the plastics industry. Through a review of the toxicology, industrial hygiene, and epidemiology literatures in conjunction with qualitative research, this article explores occupational exposures in producing plastics and health risks to workers, particularly women, who make up a large part of the workforce. The review demonstrates that workers are exposed to chemicals that have been identified as mammary carcinogens and endocrine disrupting chemicals, and that the work environment is heavily contaminated with dust and fumes. Consequently, plastics workers have a body burden that far exceeds that found in the general public. The nature of these exposures in the plastics industry places women at disproportionate risk, underlining the importance of gender. Measures for eliminating these exposures and the need for regulatory action are discussed.

Breast cancer risk in relation to occupations with exposure to carcinogens and endocrine disruptors: a Canadian case-control study.

BACKGROUND: Endocrine disrupting chemicals and carcinogens, some of which may not yet have been classified as such, are present in many occupational environments and could increase breast cancer risk. Prior research has identified associations with breast cancer and work in agricultural and industrial settings. The purpose of this study was to further characterize possible links between breast cancer risk and occupation, particularly in farming and manufacturing, as well as to examine the impacts of early agricultural exposures, and exposure effects that are specific to the endocrine receptor status of tumours. METHODS: 1005 breast cancer cases referred by a regional cancer center and 1146 randomly-selected community controls provided detailed data including occupational and reproductive histories. All reported jobs were industry- and occupation-coded for the construction of cumulative exposure metrics representing likely exposure to carcinogens and endocrine disruptors. In a frequency-matched case-control design, exposure effects were estimated using conditional logistic regression. RESULTS: Across all sectors, women in jobs with potentially high exposures to carcinogens and endocrine disruptors had elevated breast cancer risk (OR = 1.42; 95% CI, 1.18-1.73, for 10 years exposure duration). Specific sectors with elevated risk included: agriculture (OR = 1.36; 95% CI, 1.01-1.82); bars-gambling (OR = 2.28; 95% CI, 0.94-5.53); automotive plastics manufacturing (OR = 2.68; 95% CI, 1.47-4.88), food canning (OR = 2.35; 95% CI, 1.00-5.53), and metalworking (OR = 1.73; 95% CI, 1.02-2.92). Estrogen receptor status of tumors with elevated risk differed by occupational grouping. Premenopausal breast cancer risk was highest for automotive plastics (OR = 4.76; 95% CI, 1.58-14.4) and food canning (OR = 5.70; 95% CI, 1.03-31.5). CONCLUSIONS: These observations support hypotheses linking breast cancer risk and exposures likely to include carcinogens and endocrine disruptors, and demonstrate the value of detailed work histories in environmental and occupational epidemiology.

Sex ratio changes as sentinel health events of endocrine disruption.

The production and widespread use of synthetic chemicals since the 1940s have resulted in ubiquitous contamination of fish, wildlife and human populations. Since the 1960s, observers have documented major damage to wildlife reproduction across the globe, and subsequently, damage to reproductive health in exposed humans as well. The sex ratio in human communities and populations can be readily measured to ascertain whether reproductive effects, such as subtle birth defects of the reproductive tract caused by exposures to chemicals, might be occurring. Male to female sex ratios appear to be declining in populations in several parts of the globe, possibly as a result of prenatal exposures to chemicals. Sex ratio data for communities with unusual occupational or environmental exposures can be compiled using traditional epidemiological techniques in pursuit of environmental justice. Local, regional and national population health researchers and occupational hygienists can use health statistics to examine sex ratios as sentinel health events that might portend patterns of subtle structural birth defects of the reproductive tract and functional deficits in neurodevelopment.

Canada's asbestos legacy at home and abroad.

Despite international efforts to block Canada's export of asbestos, the Canadian federal government continues to defend the economic interests of the asbestos industry. Ironically, Canadian asbestos miners, mill workers, and those engaged in a wide range of other occupations continue to suffer asbestos-related disease and premature death. Although there is an employer-funded compensation system in each province, many workers with mesothelioma and other asbestos-related diseases remain uncompensated. The export of Canadian asbestos to developing countries sets the stage for another preventable occupational disease epidemic that will manifest over the coming decades. There is growing support from the Canadian labor movement for an end to asbestos exportation and for a just transition strategy for the asbestos workers and their communities.

Cancer and construction: what occupational histories in a Canadian community reveal.

From 2000 to 2002, male patients at a Canadian cancer treatment center with new-incident head-and-neck or esophageal cancers were invited to participate in a population-based study. The study population included 87 cases and 172 controls. A lifetime-history questionnaire was administered. Odds ratios (ORs) were calculated for occupational groups with a minimum of five cases, adjusted for duration of employment, age, smoking, alcohol, education, and income. A significantly increased risk was shown for construction workers (OR = 2.20; 95% CI 1.25-3.91). This investigation of a set of rare cancers over a limited time period demonstrates the feasibility of this research approach. The increased risk among construction workers supports the need for more comprehensive study of exposures in this occupational group.

Occupation and breast cancer: a Canadian case-control study.

A local collaborative process was launched in Windsor, Ontario, Canada to explore the role of occupation as a risk factor for cancer. An initial hypothesis-generating study found an increased risk for breast cancer among women aged 55 years or younger who had ever worked in farming. On the basis of this result, a 2-year case-control study was undertaken to evaluate the lifetime occupational histories of women with breast cancer. The results indicate that women with breast cancer were nearly three times more likely to have worked in agriculture when compared to the controls (OR = 2.80 [95% CI, 1.6-4.8]). The risk for those who worked in agriculture and subsequently worked in automotive-related manufacturing was further elevated (OR = 4.0 [95% CI, 1.7-9.9]). The risk for those employed in agriculture and subsequently employed in health care was also elevated (OR = 2.3 [95% CI, 1.1-4.6]). Farming tended to be among the earlier jobs worked, often during adolescence. While this article has limitations including the small sample size and the lack of information regarding specific exposures, it does provide evidence of a possible association between farming and breast cancer. The findings indicate the need for further study to determine which aspects of farming may be of biological importance and to better understand the significance of timing of exposure in terms of cancer risk.

Declining sex ratio in a first nation community.

Members of the Aamjiwnaang First Nation community near Sarnia, Ontario, Canada, voiced concerns that there appeared to be fewer male children in their community in recent years. In response to these concerns, we assessed the sex ratio (proportion of male births) of the Aamjiwnaang First Nation over the period 1984-2003 as part of a community-based participatory research project. The trend in the proportion of male live births of the Aamjiwnaang First Nation has been declining continuously from the early 1990s to 2003, from an apparently stable sex ratio prior to this time. The proportion of male births (m) showed a statistically significant decline over the most recent 10-year period (1994-2003) (m = 0.412, p = 0.008) with the most pronounced decrease observed during the most recent 5 years (1999-2003) (m = 0.348, p = 0.006). Numerous factors have been associated with a decrease in the proportion of male births in a population, including a number of environmental and occupational chemical exposures. This community is located within the Great Lakes St. Clair River Area of Concern and is situated immediately adjacent to several large petrochemical, polymer, and chemical industrial plants. Although there are several potential factors that could be contributing to the observed decrease in sex ratio of the Aamjiwnaang First Nation, the close proximity of this community to a large aggregation of industries and potential exposures to compounds that may influence sex ratios warrants further assessment into the types of chemical exposures for this population. A community health survey is currently under way to gather more information about the health of the Aamjiwnaang community and to provide additional information about the factors that could be contributing to the observed decrease in the proportion of male births in recent years.

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

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.

Occupational histories of cancer patients in a Canadian cancer treatment center and the generated hypothesis regarding breast cancer and farming.

Occupational exposures increase cancer risks. The Windsor Regional Cancer Centre in Windsor, Ontario, was the first Canadian cancer treatment center to collect the work histories of its patients, which were recorded using a computer-based questionnaire. Breast cancer cases represented the largest respondent group. The lifetime occupational histories of 299 women with newly diagnosed breast cancers were compared with those of 237 women with other cancers. Odds ratios (ORs) were calculated using logistic regression, adjusting for age, social class, and education. The OR for women < or = 55 years of age with breast cancer who had ever farmed, compared with women of the same age with other cancers, was 9.05 (95% CI 1.06, 77.43). Patients' occupational histories can help to inform understanding of cancer etiology and prevention. This effort points to a need for investigation of the possible association between breast cancer and agricultural hazards such as pesticides.