title: Collection and retention of demographic, medical, and occupational information in northeastern Ontario workplaces.
abstract: This study determined whether workplaces in northeastern Ontario currently collect and retain demographic information, medical history, work history, and information on occupational exposure. Surveys were mailed to 434 northeastern Ontario workplaces with 50 or more employees, and a telephone follow-up was conducted. The response rate was 42.6% (185/434). Over 97% of workplaces reported that they always collect surnames and first names of employees, 13.5% reported collecting maiden names (and 70.8% never collect maiden names), 85.4% collect date of birth, 55.7% next of kin, 97.8% current address, 21.6% medical history, and 31.9% collect the health insurance number. Job titles were routinely recorded by 79.5%. Start and end dates for each job were always recorded by 68.1%, and 70.3% reported that they always note the area of work. Overall, 64.9% of workplaces collected previous place of employment. For 72.1%, legislation influenced the amount of information collected on current records. Thirteen percent routinely recorded smoking history on occupational health records, and 25.9% undertook exposure surveillance. This type of information can assist in planning occupational epidemiological studies.
authors.affiliation: Northeastern Ontario Regional Cancer Centre, Sudbury, Ontario, Canada. nlightfoot@neorcc.on.ca
authors.forename: Nancy
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Lightfoot
authors.forename: Jennifer
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Dumont
authors.forename: Michael
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Conlon
authors.forename: Rachelle
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Arbour-Gagnon
authors.forename: Tim
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Rico
authors.forename: Sharon
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Duhamel
authors.forename: Randy
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Bissett
mesh_terms: D003625:Data Collection; D003710:Demography; D006801:Humans; D008487:Medical History Taking; D008499:Medical Records; D016273:Occupational Exposure; D016272:Occupational Health; D009864:Ontario / Q000453:epidemiology; D017132:Workplace / Q000706:statistics & numerical data