Former SaskEnergy worker believes cancer is linked to gas exposure on the job
Brian Hodgkinson always knew there was benzene in natural gas — after all, he spent 40 years working with it for SaskPower, then SaskEnergy.
Hodgkinson, 68, retired from SaskEnergy in 2014. A year later he discovered he had leukemia — blood cancer. Now, Hodgkinson and his wife — also a former SaskEnergy employee — are suing both companies because they think his exposure to gas at work led to his leukemia.
He never thought about the benzene much until his wife approached him six months ago.
“She asked me one day, ‘Is there benzene in natural gas?’ I said, ‘Oh, yeah.’ Well, she says, ‘it’s linked to cancers.’”
His wife Josie started researching the links between benzene exposure and the risk of developing leukemia, she even convinced one research group to share their raw data with her so they could bring it to an occupational medicine specialist in Saskatoon.
The doctor was convinced. In November, he wrote a letter to their family doctor supporting their claim that his leukemia was work-related.
“As I noted in my first letter dated Sept. 27th, benzene is a known (Group 1) carcinogen causing leukemia,” said Dr. Niels Koehncke of the Occupational Medicine Clinic at the University of Saskatchewan.
“I realize we don’t have accurate exposure information for Mr. Hodgkinson specifically during his time with SaskEnergy. Nevertheless, I feel these potential exposure levels, particularly over the course of a working lifetime, represent a risk of developing leukemia and support the work-relatedness of his leukemia.”
Hodgkinson now looks back on his 30 years of fieldwork with new eyes. He says workers were constantly exposed to gas and weren’t given appropriate protective gear.
He says workers were required to perform “sniff tests” to measure odorant in the gas.
“It’s where you go up to the gas meter in the house and you, you sniff natural gas and compare it to a machine.”
When called to the site of a ruptured gas line, he says they worked unprotected, he claims.
“No respirator, no nothing. Just a pair of goggles on.”
In a statement of defence filed in November, both provincial Crown corporations deny any wrongdoing.
They deny Hodgkinson suffered any loss or injury and say — even if he did — it was caused by his own negligence, claiming he failed to follow safety procedures.
Hodgkinson says the procedures weren’t clear.
Workers were trained to use respirators, and a few were available in the office, but staff were never directed when to use them, Hodgkinson said.
Safety consultant Brooks Paisley from Daxx Safety Group in Regina says most companies working around hazardous gases have very clear rules about respirators.
“There are safe work procedures, safe work practices, company rules that are in place as far as PPE, having an assigned respirator that is, you know, tight fitting, and assigned to the end user,” Paisley told CTV News.
Hodgkinson says he knows two other field workers from his Saskatoon office who also have blood cancer, and he can think of many who died in their 50s.
Now, dying at home from leukemia and stomach cancer, he said he feels cheated.
“It seems to me like they feel that the field workers are disposable.”
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
Appeals court overturns Harvey Weinstein's 2020 rape conviction from landmark trial
New York’s highest court on Thursday overturned Harvey Weinstein’s 2020 rape conviction, finding the judge at the landmark #MeToo trial prejudiced the ex-movie mogul with improper rulings, including a decision to let women testify about allegations that weren’t part of the case.
BREAKING Honda to get up to $5B in govt help for EV battery, assembly plants
Honda is set to build an electric vehicle battery plant next to its Alliston, Ont., assembly plant, which it is retooling to produce fully electric vehicles, all part of a $15-billion project that is expected to include up to $5 billion in public money.
MPP Sarah Jama asked to leave Ontario legislature for wearing keffiyeh
MPP Sarah Jama was asked to leave the Legislative Assembly of Ontario by House Speaker Ted Arnott on Thursday for wearing a keffiyeh, a garment that is banned at Queen’s Park.
CTE: Researchers believe widespread brain injury may contribute to veteran suicide rate
Researchers are working to better understand if some Canadian military veterans may be suffering from Chronic Traumatic Encephalopathy, also known as CTE -- a disorder previously found in the brains of professional football and hockey players after their death.
1 arrested in northern Alberta during public shelter order
Residents of John D'Or Prairie, a community on the Little Red River Cree Nation in northern Alberta, were told to take shelter Thursday morning during a police operation.
Secret $70M Lotto Max winners break their silence
During a special winner celebration near their hometown, Doug and Enid shared the story of how they discovered they were holding a Lotto Max ticket worth $70 million and how they kept this huge secret for so long.
Remains from a mother-daughter cold case were found nearly 24 years later, after a deathbed confession from the suspect
A West Virginia father is getting some sense of closure after authorities found the remains of his young daughter and her mother following a deathbed confession from the man believed to have fatally shot them nearly two decades ago.
New deep-water channel allows first ship to pass Key bridge wreckage in Baltimore
The first cargo ship passed through a newly opened deep-water channel in Baltimore on Thursday after being stuck in the harbor since the Francis Scott Key Bridge collapsed four weeks ago, halting most maritime traffic through the city's port.
First in Canada procedure performed at London, Ont. hospital
A London man has become the first person in Canada to receive a robotic assisted surgery on his spine. Dave Myeh suffered from debilitating, chronic back pain that led to sciatica in his right now and extreme pain in his lower back.