FBU national officer Riccardo la Torre discusses the latest findings from FBU sponsored research on firefighting and cancer – and the need for an urgent response
Discoveries in the University of Central Lancashire’s (UCLan) latest research into firefighting and cancer, commissioned by the FBU, are alarming.
We need a swift response and urgent measures from those in power to stop firefighters falling ill and dying needlessly.
When we started working with UCLan on researching the links between firefighting, cancer and other diseases, we knew anecdotally that firefighters all over the UK were suffering and dying from debilitating illnesses.
Many fire stations across the UK lack the facilities and contracts for proper PPE and workwear cleaning
Just over a year and a half after we published our first set of reports, a World Health Organisation body, the International Agency for Research into Cancer (IARC), ruled firefighting as a carcinogenic occupation.
Yet some in the sector still claimed that there was not enough evidence to point towards UK firefighters’ exposure to toxic contaminants at work as the likely cause of their illnesses.
Faced with these most recent reports, they can no longer make those claims. This research is clear evidence substantiating our concerns, and backing IARC’s ruling, that firefighters are falling ill because of their work.
The research, based on a survey of more than 10,000 UK firefighters and looking at Scottish firefighters’ death certificates, found that firefighters are being diagnosed with and dying from cancer at a higher rate than the general population.
They are more likely to develop cancer at younger ages and die from certain cancers, including prostate cancer, leukaemia and oesophageal cancer.
It is clear that it is their exposures at work that are having an impact on firefighters’ physical and mental wellbeing. Firefighters who have served longer are at a greater risk of developing cancer than those who have served less time. The research also found they were twice as likely to be diagnosed with cancer if they reported soot in their nose/throat or remained in their personal protective equipment (PPE) for more than four hours after a fire.
It isn’t just cancer; it’s other diseases too. Firefighters are dying from heart attacks at five times the rate of the general public and at three times the rate from strokes.
DEPRESSION
Their exposure to contaminants is linked to mental health problems, with firefighters almost three times as likely to suffer from depression and twice as likely to have anxiety.
While the FBU’s DECON campaign has made fire bosses rethink decontamination practices and start to make changes in their services, there are areas where we are sorely lacking.
We need health surveillance for firefighters throughout their career and beyond into retirement. Fire services need to introduce monitoring of their workforce’s exposures to toxic contaminants.
It is clear that firefighters’ exposures at work are having an impact on physical and mental wellbeing
Many fire stations across the UK lack the facilities and contracts for proper PPE and workwear cleaning and this needs to change.
The ruling by IARC shows that the UK is miles behind other countries and we need legislation that will ensure that affected firefighters are given the compensation they deserve.
These are all things that the FBU is pushing for.
ADMIRATION
Ministers are starting to sit up and take notice.
At a debate in the Scottish Parliament in Holyrood on DECON in January this year, MSPs from across all parties expressed their admiration for the work firefighters do, their horror at the findings, and declared that more needs to be done to stop firefighters dying needlessly.
We are proud that our work with UCLan is on their radar and raising questions about what needs to be done, but we need more than platitudes to make real change.
The FBU’s DECON campaign has made fire bosses rethink decontamination practices and start to make changes
The findings paint a pretty grim picture. But there is hope. None of these illnesses are inevitable and there are clear steps that ministers and fire bosses can take to make things better.
As always, the FBU is fighting your corner and demanding better protections for our members’ health and safety – and we will not rest until we win them.
Key findings:
4.1%
of firefighters surveyed found to have a cancer diagnosis
1.6x
The mortality rate for all cancers is 1.6 times higher than the general population
1.7x
Firefighters who have served at least 15 years are 1.7 times as likely to develop cancer
2x
Firefighters twice as likely to develop cancer if they noticed soot in their nose/throat or remained in their PPE for more than four hours
323%
Incidences of cancer 323% higher among firefighters after 35-39
3x
Firefighters almost three times more likely to suffer with depression and twice as likely to suffer with anxiety
