Firefighter cancer remains second leading cause of work-related occupational disease deaths in Sask.

WorkSafe Sask. announces new video training series to help support the prevention of firefighter cancer

Regina, Sask., Jan. 31, 2022 – Firefighter cancer is the second leading cause of work-related occupational disease deaths in Saskatchewan. From 2010 to 2018, 23 per cent of work-related occupational disease fatalities in Saskatchewan were from firefighter cancers and in 2020, five firefighters lost their lives to cancer. To help address this, WorkSafe Saskatchewan (the partnership between the Saskatchewan Workers’ Compensation Board (WCB) and the Ministry of Labour Relations and Workplace Safety) announced a new video resource series to help firefighters better protect themselves from incidents and exposures on the job.

“Improving firefighter cancer prevention is one of the top priorities in WorkSafe Saskatchewan’s Fatalities and Serious Injuries Strategy, launched in 2019. As part of the strategy, we worked with industry experts to develop this safe work practices video series,” said Kevin Mooney, the WCB’s vice-president of prevention and employer services. “Deaths from occupational firefighter cancer are preventable. Our firefighter safe practice video series is one step in our journey together to help support the prevention of cancer among the brave women and men who serve our communities every day.”

Developed in conjunction with Jim Burneka and the Firefighter Cancer Consultants, these 31 videos showcase safe work practices to support fire departments and firefighters in reducing their risk of developing cancer from the hazards they are exposed to at the jobsite. The videos are based on best practices that were recommended for Saskatchewan fire departments to adopt after an audit of several professional and volunteer fire departments in 2019.

In the spring of 2020, WorkSafe Saskatchewan conducted a survey with 141 Saskatchewan firefighters. The survey focused on 26 firefighter cancer prevention items and found multiple gaps in the firefighter cancer preventive measures. The video series was created to fill in the gaps and reinforce preventive measures.

“I am proud and honoured to be involved with the program with the Saskatchewan Workers’ Compensation Board. It’s working to help bring awareness to the cancer situation for firefighters,” said Doug Lapchuk, president of the Saskatchewan Volunteer Firefighters Association and fire chief in Balgonie. “We train and train and train in case there’s a fire. There is no training in case there’s cancer. The only thing you can do is be proactive and be very diligent in the steps that you take.”

Steps firefighters can take to reduce hazards on the job include properly wearing and cleaning all safety equipment, cleaning the inside of vehicles between calls, disposing contaminants quickly and safely, taking a shower as soon as possible after a fire and conducting annual medical and skin exams.

“It’s no longer a sign of you’ve been a real tough guy going into a hot fire. That’s no longer acceptable. If you’re not willing to do it for yourself, do it for your coworkers, your families,” said Lloyd Zwack, president of the Saskatchewan Firefighters Association. “Cancer does not discriminate. It doesn’t matter if you’re a career fireman, professional fireman or a volunteer, it does not matter. You need to start taking actions.”

Mike Kwasnica, president of the Saskatchewan Association of Fire Chiefs, said education, equipment and training are three vital pieces to help keeping firefighters safe from toxic exposures while fighting fires.

“I don’t ever want to have to go to somebody and explain to them what happened, that things went wrong and I could have prevented it. That does weigh heavily a lot every day,” said Kwasnica. “It’s about your family and going home to them.”

Nikkii McClelland knows the dangers of toxic exposures on the job. Her husband, Darren McClelland, who was the former fire chief in Swift Current, passed away from work-related colon cancer in 2020. He was diagnosed with cancer three and a half years earlier, at which time it had already spread to his liver. Darren began chemotherapy and underwent multiple surgeries over the next few years. Their daughters were 19 and 16 at the time.

“We tried everything. He was a trooper. He was a fighter,” said McClelland. “He was always game to do something to save his life.”

In December 2019, Darren’s doctors discovered a tumour in his back that caused him so much pain that he couldn’t walk. By mid-January, he turned jaundice and on Jan. 20, 2020 at the age of 48, Darren passed away.

“There was just no way I couldn’t see anything but having a long life together,” said McClelland. “We’re all grieving in our own ways. I’m grieving because I lost my husband. I lost my best friend. The girls are grieving because they lost their hero. They’ve lost their mentor.”

McClelland is sharing her story to raise awareness and to help prevent other firefighters from being diagnosed and passing away from cancer because of jobsite exposures.

“Every fire department needs to be on board with better gear, better oxygen masks, anything on how to keep those chemicals out of your system. Don’t say it won’t happen to me, it’s going to be OK because it can change your life in an instant,” said McClelland. “I don’t want anybody lying in bed scared to death to go to sleep because you just don’t know if you’re going to wake up in the morning. I don’t want anybody to live this life that me and my girls have to live.”

To view the safe work practices video series and for more information on firefighter cancer prevention, please visit www.worksafesask.ca/firefighter-cancer-prevention.

Kevin Mooney and Nikkii McClelland are available for interviews on Jan. 31 and Feb. 1.

 

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