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Fire fighters are exposed on a daily basis to stress, smoke, heat, and various toxic substances. As a result, fire fighters are far more likely to contract heart disease and cancer than other workers. And as fire fighters increasingly assume the role of the state’s leading providers of emergency medical services, they are also exposed to infectious diseases. Heart disease, lung disease, cancer and infectious disease are now among the leading causes of death and disability for fire fighters, and numerous studies have found that these illnesses are occupational hazards of fire fighting.

In recognition of this linkage, 38 states have enacted “presumptive disability” laws, which presume that cardiovascular diseases, certain cancers and infectious diseases are job related for purposes of workers compensation and disability retirement unless proven otherwise. No such law covers fire fighters employed in Alaska.

Under Alaska workers compensation laws, fire fighters must be able to pinpoint the precise incident or exposure that caused a disease in order for it to be considered job-related. This burden of proof is extraordinarily difficult for fire fighters to meet because they respond to a wide variety of emergency calls, constantly working in uncontrolled environments under difficult conditions. As a result, very few cases of occupational disease contracted by fire fighters have been deemed to be service-connected.

HB 200, sponsored by Representative Nancy Dahlstrom (R) has been introduced that will amend workers compensation law so that certain cardiovascular, respiratory, and infectious diseases, as well as certain cancers are presumed to be job related for purposes of workers compensation and disability retirement, and places the burden on the employer to prove otherwise.

AKPFFA POSITION

The AKPFFA supports HB 200 which provides a disability presumption for Alaska’s fire fighters

AKPFFA ARGUMENTS

Most states have acknowledged the occupational hazards attributed to fire fighting and have presumptive disability laws for fire fighters because it is difficult for fire fighters to identify when and where they contracted an occupational disease.
Alaska fire fighters regularly respond to HAZMAT incidents involving chemical, radiological and biological hazards. Working in such a hazardous environment, it is virtually impossible to precisely identify when and where a fire fighter contracted a disease.
Alaska fire fighters do not have the benefit of a presumptive disability law. Instead they are faced with a burden of proof that is nearly impossible to meet and only in extraordinary cases do fire fighters, suffering from occupational diseases, receive fair and just compensation benefits.

CURRENT STATUS

HB 200 is currently in House Finance and is scheduled to be heard 2/14/08 at 1:30.

Download:

HB_200_fact_sheet[1].doc