Texas firefighters are supposed to be covered by workers’ compensation insurance if they develop cancer. In the last seven years, 146 of 168 firefighters with cancer learned that is not the case.
Firefighters struggle with considerable mental health tolls, face high suicide rates; Vermont dairy farm workers report improvements after Milk With Dignity agreement; unions win big wage boost for Disneyland Resort workers; and Vox offers a new tool to search which employers require mandatory arbitration.
Cancer
Houston firefighters demand protection from carcinogens, Trump signs law to establish firefighter cancer registry
Houston firefighters don’t think their city is doing enough to protect them from carcinogens they encounter on the job. A newly authorized national firefighter cancer registry could be a place for firefighters to record data on protections provided (or not) by their municipalities.
Firefighters report they are more concerned about getting cancer from their job than about the other health dangers they face.
Before Patrick Morrison worked for the International Association of Fire Fighters, he was a firefighter himself. He’s experienced the horrifying and profoundly saddening events that first responders see every day. And like many other firefighters, he turned to alcohol to deal with the accumulating mental trauma.
Today, Maine’s legislature held a hearing on the Toxic Chemicals in the Workplace Act, a proposal to require employers to identify harmful chemicals in the workplace and replace them with safer alternatives. It’s the perfect example of state action on behalf of worker safety and exactly the kind of measure that might no longer be possible under two congressional proposals aimed at overhauling the federal Toxic Substances Control Act.
California
San Francisco women firefighters take part in first study on firefighting exposures and breast cancer
In the span of just a couple years, five of Heather Buren’s colleagues at the San Francisco Fire Department were diagnosed with breast cancer. At first, Buren thought the diagnoses were part of the unfortunate toll that comes with age. Still, something felt amiss — “it just felt so disproportionate to me,” she said.
As the Mine Safety & Health Administration furloughs employees, three mineworkers were killed on the job in three days; OSHA issues fines in West Fertilizer explosion case; and another Bangladesh factory fire kills nine workers.
Houston Fire Captain William Dowling spent seven weeks in intensive care recovering from injuries suffered in one of the deadliest fires in Houston history. Many more months of rehabilitation await him.
Injury Control & Violence
Ceremonies honor the 19 fallen firefighters, wisdom of battling wildfires questioned
While solemn ceremonies are held to honor the 19 firefighters killed while battling a wildfire, others question the wisdom of trying to save homes built in a tinderbox.