Port Waratah Coal Services employees are more likely to be diagnosed with cancer than the rest of the population, according to a new study from the University of Newcastle.
The report, conducted at the request of PWCS after employees raised concerns about the incidence of cancer amongst the workforce, found Kooragang Island employees were 1.7 to 2.8 times more likely to suffer from cancer compared to the NSW population, the Australian population or Carrington terminal employees.
It tested more than 800 employees between 1983 and 2006, finding that 63 of those had been diagnosed with cancer.
Melanoma, prostate and bowel cancers were the most common forms detected.
But Dr Ian Gardner, a prominent Occupational and Environmental Medicine specialist says he is not alarmed by the findings.
” National and international experience shows it is almost impossible to find causal factors for common cancers occurring in a group of people, such as in a workplace.”
We’ll have more on this story in NBN News tonight at six.
