Firefighters seek action on ill health
BY BEVAN SHIELDS
14 Jan, 2012 04:00 AM
For firefighters, running into a burning building is a risky business.
Roaring flames and billowing smoke are obvious dangers but there is another; an invisible enemy leaving a deadly legacy.

Now, fresh from a bruising stoush with the NSW Government over changes to the police death and disability scheme, unions are pushing to ensure the Illawarra’s firefighters are properly compensated should they fall victim to cancer.

Repeated studies have shown firefighters are at a far greater risk of developing cancer because carcinogenic particles such as benzene, styrene and chloroform are released from building materials during fires and then inhaled or absorbed through the skin.

Last financial year, firefighters in Wollongong, Shellharbour and Kiama responded to 1398 fires and explosions, each with the potential to cause life-threatening future health problems, according to Fire Brigade Employees Union NSW secretary Jim Casey.

‘‘The smoke now coming off modern furnishings, modern buildings and modern cars is just so, so bad for your health,’’ he said.

‘‘Some of the plastics and rubbers are so dangerous we’re told you can stuff yourself with just one lung full.

‘‘If you join the job now aged 25, you retire in your late 60s so we’re facing decades of exposure.’’

A federal parliamentary committee last year heard that when firefighters are recruited, they are within the top 5 to 10 per cent of the population in terms of their physical health and fitness but within just a few years are up to five times more likely to develop brain, bladder, kidney breast or testicular cancer, as well as non-Hodgkin lymphoma or leukaemia, than the general population.

Under the existing system, firefighters diagnosed with cancer must prove, often through protracted and expensive court proceedings, that their work caused the illness.

Last year, laws passed in Federal Parliament acknowledging that when a firefighter develops cancer, their job is considered the dominant cause and they should therefore be entitled to compensation.

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