The Health and Safety Executive (HSE) has set out plans to start inspecting fire and rescue services to regulate measures taken to protect firefighters from carcinogens.
These inspections would cover a range of procedures and practices, from precautions at the scene of a fire, to how PPE and contaminated workwear are cleaned.
The full HSE plan is scheduled to be published in April 2025.
HSE officials made fact-finding visits to inform draft inspection standards, which will use research on contaminants commissioned by the FBU and carried out by Professor Anna Stec with the University of Central Lancashire (UCLan).
The new initiative came after the World Health Organisation’s International Agency for Research on Cancer categorised the occupation of firefighting as carcinogenic to humans.
The FBU has long called for action to protect firefighters from contaminants and prevent occupational cancers.
The FBU will continue to fight for the urgent action needed to prevent firefighter cancers, as well as health monitoring to catch diseases early and compensation for those who fall ill
The union’s DECON campaign also demands regular health monitoring to catch diseases early, and legislation to compensate and support firefighters who receive a cancer diagnosis.
Reducing and eliminating exposures is crucial for protecting firefighters. The FBU has welcomed the HSE’s inspection plans as a significant step forward in the union’s campaign for the health and safety of firefighters.
FBU national officer Riccardo la Torre said: “We will be monitoring the development of this initiative closely and await further details from the HSE.
“The FBU will continue to fight for the urgent action needed to prevent firefighter cancers, as well as health monitoring to catch diseases early and compensation for those who fall ill, to bring us in line with other parts of the world.”
The Fire Brigades Union continues to work with UCLan, having commissioned multiple ground-breaking research projects into firefighters’ exposure to contaminants.
Contributions raised through the Firefighters 100 lottery has made much of this work possible.
Since a keystone research paper on cancer incidence among UK firefighters was published in January 2023, the FBU has worked with UCLan to test over 1,000 firefighters across the UK and gather crucial data about the presence of contaminants in firefighters’ blood.
New research into firefighters’ exposure to contaminants at the Grenfell Tower fire is also expected to be published this year.
Should Labour win the next election, the FBU will call for the new government to take urgent action for the prevention, health monitoring, legislation and compensation needed to protect firefighters at work.
