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New Zealand fire crews are calling on the government to amend the Accident Compensation Corporation (ACC) legislation so that firefighters are looked after in their darkest times.
Firefighters gathered on Parliament’s forecourt on May 23, voicing their demand to recognise firefighter’s occupational cancer and for access to ACC entitlements like loss of wages and treatments costs, TVNZ reported.
“Firefighters are dying in record numbers, because of the nature of our job,” Canadian Firefighters Union president Alex Forrest told those gathered on the steps of Parliament.
Forrest, an expert in firefighter’s occupational cancers, had convinced governments in Canada, the US and Australia to adopt legislation that presumes a firefighter’s cancer is most likely caused by their work. He claims it is the toxic smoke, made up of harmful carcinogens from burning materials, that seeps into the skin of firefighters over many years on the job.
“If a New Zealand firefighter dies in the line of duty because of occupational cancer, they are ignored by their government,” Forrest added.
Meanwhile, New Zealand’s Professional Firefighters Union (NZPFU) has international research to show they have a 102% greater risk of developing testicular cancer than the general population, a 28% greater risk of prostate cancer and 32% greater risk of cancer in the brain. However, they said it is impossible to prove to ACC that years of fighting fires is what caused their illness.
TVNZ reported that Minister Responsible for the National Fire and Emergency Service Tracey Martin backed the call for recognition of occupational cancers. She told firefighters she had written a letter directly to the Minister of the ACC saying firefighters need to have that presumptive legislation passed for the particular cancers that research shows they are making themselves vulnerable to.
Meanwhile, ACC Minister Iain Lees-Galloway said he had met with firefighters and their union, and has since asked officials for advice.
“The prudent thing to do is wait for that to come in and I’ll make decisions after it does,” he said.
