POLICY DEVELOPMENT FOR COMPENSATING WORKERS EXPOSED TO CRYSTALLINE SILICA IN ONTARIO, CANADA

The Ontario Workers' Compensation Board develops policy for diseases b y considering scientific information within legal, political, and soci al contexts. The purpose of this paper is to describe the process used to develop a policy for lung cancer among gold miners and to examine the extent to which this process assists the development of similar gu idelines for workers with silica dust exposure. The scientific and pol icy questions are similar, both requiring consultation with stakeholde rs. To improve the development process for the gold miner policy, cons ultation for silica and lung cancer needs to be more inclusive. The re sulting procedures would also need to be precise enough to assist adju dicators to make decisions without limiting their ability to decide ea ch claim on the merits of the case. The major challenge is to ensure t hat the final policy is scientifically and legally supportable and acc eptable to both workers and employers.