Occupational disease risks in natural resource-based industries among a large cohort of workers in Ontario, Canada

Thompson T, Goggins K, Demers PA, Jardine KJ, Parker M, Sritharan J. Occupational disease risks in natural resource-based industries among a large cohort of workers in Ontario, Canada. Occup Environ Med. Work. 2026 Aug 21:10519815261476663. doi: 10.1177/10519815261476663. Online ahead of print. PMID: 42627631 

Background: Natural resource-based industries are critical to many economies. Although workers in these industries face several hazardous exposures, the industry-specific risks of occupational diseases remain underexplored.

Objective: This study aimed to identify high-risk occupational diseases among workers in Ontario’s natural resource-based industries.

Methods: Workers were identified in the Occupational Disease Surveillance System (ODSS), a system linking workers’ compensation data (1983-2019) to health records. Cox proportional hazard models were used to estimate hazard ratios (HR) and 95% confidence intervals (CI) for diagnoses of various occupational diseases, adjusted for age at start of follow-up, birth year, and sex.

Results: Overall, 10,286 workers were identified in forestry and logging, 40,122 in wood products, 25,828 in pulp and paper, and 24,921 in mining. Elevated risks of specific cancers, such as lung, and laryngeal cancer, were observed among most workers in the four natural resource-based industries. Colorectal cancer risks were higher among pulp and paper, and mining workers. Elevated risks of non-cancer outcomes, including carpal tunnel syndrome, acute myocardial infarction, idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis, and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease were also observed. For some outcomes, such as silicosis, where case counts were low, an elevated risk was only observed among metal miners.

Conclusions: These findings demonstrate that workers in natural resource-based industries remain at high risk for several occupational diseases, highlighting the critical need for industry-specific early and targeted prevention initiatives.

Keywords: carpal tunnel syndrome; extraction and processing industry; forestry; lung diseases; myocardial infarction; neoplasms; occupational diseases; Raynaud disease.