Utah studies link between cancer, public safety

The Utah Labor Commission has taken a step toward finding out if firefighters and police officers with cancer and other ailments developed the diseases because of hazards associated with their jobs.

The commission is using $500,000 designated by the Legislature during the next two years to study whether cancer and other diseases are a result of public safety employees’ working conditions, which would make them eligible for workers’ compensation benefits.

A 2002 study by a University of Miami researcher of more than 30,000 Florida firefighters over about 20 years showed higher incidences of cancer among firefighters than the general population. But that study and others have failed to establish a direct link between diseases and the occupation.

“We just don’t know what the issue is,” David Daniels, chairman of the International Association of Fire Chiefs’ safety, health and survival section, said in a telephone interview from Atlanta.

“Too many folks are dying on the job and from it. We can’t prove it yet, but we have anecdotes everywhere suggesting firefighters are getting cancer at higher rates than the general population.”

Last fall, British Columbia’s government authorized a compensation act that recognizes firefighters face an increased risk of cancer, putting the burden of proof on the government to show why a worker shouldn’t receive compensation. It followed similar acts in other Canadian provinces.

A presumptive cause law exists in Washington state and is being pursued elsewhere.

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