Workplace Roulette: Gambling with Cancer

David Bennett is the national director of the Department of Workplace Health, Safety and Environment at the Canadian Labour Congress in Ottawa.

According to some estimates, occupational cancers constitute 20 percent
of all cancers. This book examines the environmental causes of
cancer—of which the work environment forms a central part—and
provides clear strategies for how workers can fight back, irrespective
of age, gender, occupation, sector, and the particular carcinogens
involved. Documented case histories show how workers have demanded safe
workplaces and proper compensation. Preventive strategies are also put
forward.

This comprehensive and penetrating book is marred only by the somewhat
defensive tone that emerges when the authors are presenting their case
for the environmental causes of cancer. Downplaying the occupational
causes of cancer has resulted in the use of workers as pawns and guinea
pigs in the cancer wars being fought by researchers, employers, and
governments. A far more appropriate tone would have been one of anger
and contempt.