title: Exploring the usefulness of occupational exposure registries for surveillance: the case of the Ontario Asbestos Workers Registry (1986-2012).
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  The ongoing presence of asbestos in products used across workplaces in Canada reinforces the importance of occupational exposure surveillance. This study evaluates the usefulness of the Ontario Asbestos Workers Registry.
  
  
  METHODS
  The study includes 30,829 workers aged 15 to 80 years. Researchers reported on the data quality and analyzed the proportions of workers exposed by industry, and standardized rates by geographic areas and over time.
  
  
  RESULTS
  The incidence of exposure started to decrease around 1990; but about 2000 workers were still exposed annually until 2006. Results showed large geographical disparities. Unexpectedly, workers from industries other than construction reported exposure.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  The Ontario Asbestos Workers Registry is a useful but challenging source of information for the surveillance of asbestos exposure in Ontario. The registry could benefit from well-defined surveillance objectives, a clear exposure definition, systematic enforcement, regular data analyses, and results dissemination.
authors.affiliation: From Cancer Care Ontario (Drs Koné Pefoyo, Del Bianco, and Kramer and Ms Moore), HSPRN University of Toronto (Dr Koné Pefoyo), Ontario Ministry of Labour (Dr Genesove), Faculty of Environmental Studies York University (Dr Del Bianco), and Ryerson University (Dr Kramer), Toronto, Ontario, Canada.
authors.forename: Anna J
authors.initials: AJ
authors.lastname: Koné Pefoyo
authors.forename: Leon
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Genesove
authors.forename: Kris
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Moore
authors.forename: Ann
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Del Bianco
authors.forename: Desre
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Kramer
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D001194:Asbestos / Q000633:toxicity*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D015994:Incidence; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D016273:Occupational Exposure / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D009864:Ontario / Q000453:epidemiology; D011159:Population Surveillance; D012042:Registries
chemical_list: D001194:Asbestos