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Many homes and buildings in Saskatchewan were built before 1990, so they might contain asbestos. This means contractors and homeowners planning renovations could be putting themselves at risk of asbestos exposure, if they don’t take the proper steps before starting a construction project.

When asbestos is disturbed during renovations, tiny asbestos fibres are released into the air and inhaled. Asbestos fibres can get trapped into the lungs and cause serious health problems in the future, such as asbestosis, mesothelioma and lung cancer.

Asbestos-related lung diseases are the cause of many workplace fatalities in the province of Saskatchewan. In particular, mesothelioma and other asbestos-related lung diseases were responsible for approximately 26 per cent of the 390 fatalities accepted by the Saskatchewan WCB in the last decade (2010-2019). In 2019, 47 per cent of workplace fatalities were a result of occupational diseases.  Many of these deaths occurred in the construction industry and can be prevented.

To address the need for improved information and awareness, the Saskatchewan Construction Safety Association (SCSA) is hosting an online Asbestos Awareness Panel on June 2, 2020 at 09:00 on Zoom (https://zoom.us/j/98153798690).  Joining the panel will be Dr. Paul Demers from the Occupational Cancer Research Centre and David Kanciruk from Associated Asbestos Abatement a Division of Place-Crete Systems LLP,  a COR™ certified company and SCSA member as well as representatives from the Ministry of Labour Relations and Workplace Safety.

To pre-submit a question, please contact comm@scsaonline.ca with questions to be addressed on the live webinar.

Paul Demers is the Director of the Occupational Cancer Research Centre.. He a Professor (status) with the Institute for Medical Sciences and the Dalla Lana School of Public Health at the University of Toronto. Paul Demers has a Ph.D. in epidemiology and a M.Sc. in Industrial Hygiene, both from the University of Washington. His research has focused on occupational and environmental cancer, lung disease, and heart disease. In addition, he has an interest in both occupational carcinogen and cancer surveillance. He has been a member of many national and international expert panels dealing with occupational and environmental cancer for organizations such as the International Agency for Research on Cancer, the U.S. National Toxicology Program, the U.S. Institute of Medicine, the Royal Society of Canada, and the Council of Canadian Academies.