What is it about?
Sudbury has been known internationally as the most polluted city in the world. Over 40 years, the pollution from mining has decreased. Although the mine workers still have the legacy of high cancer rates from their past exposures, present day mining is much less treacherous. The changes have occurred through a combination of forces such as globalization, automation, legislative and regulatory change, and the economic climate. But the changes have also been the work of the unions and industry who became aware of occupational diseases like cancer and fought for political and regulatory changes.
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Why is it important?
Using a model such as Sudbury, other very polluted industrial towns and cities can learn lessons from this mining-town's experience and can reduce their occupational and environmental pollution.
Perspectives
This project was a wonderful opportunity to understand how a whole industry and a whole community in Sudbury came together to improve their work and their environment. In total, we spoke to 90 people trying to understand the dynamic of the complex forces that came to play. The task of the project was very wide, and that is why this article focused just on the industrial changes that took place. Other manuscripts from this project have highlighted the community changes and the methods that were used. The focus on Sudbury also built on our inquiry into the changes that occurred in Sarnia, Ontario where the petrochemical industry was faced with high lung cancer and mesothelioma rates from workers being exposed to asbestos.
Desre Kramer
Occupational Cancer Research Centre
Read the Original
This page is a summary of: From awareness to action: Sudbury, mining and occupational disease in a time of change, Work, October 2017, IOS Press,
DOI: 10.3233/wor-172610.
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