This book is an overview of the hazards of firefighting, the health risks of exposure to combustion products that characterize firefighting, the science behind interpreting these risks for purposes of identifying diseases as work-related, and the legal and policy implications of adopting legislated "presumption" for purposes of compensation. The emphasis of the book is on the risk of cancer, cardiovascular disease, traumatic hazards, and disabling psychosocial adjustment following major incidents.
Those interested in this book will include scientists studying firefighters, fire service managers with responsibility for occupational health and prevention,  lawyers and workers’ compensation case managers, and professionals who are retained to render opinions regarding a case or claim.
The relevance of material in this book is not limited to firefighting as an occupation. The occupational health and compensation issues in firefighting are a model for other occupations because they have been well studied and worked out. The chapters on epidemiology, interpretation of evidence, and compensation policy also apply to other occupations and compensation issues. The health risks and hazards and can be used as a model for other issues in occupational health and compensation, and hos these issues are analyzed, interpreted, and address by public policy.

Firefighters face many work-related hazards and their elevated risk for serious chronic disease and injury results in a burden and gives rise to many claims for workers’ compensation This book is a detailed and interdisciplinary resource for understanding and documenting these risks, both in general and in the individual case This resource summarizes and explains the vast research literatures on disease risk (including cancer), the hazards of fire smoke, lifestyle health risk factors, and unique aspects of firefighting of practical importance in managing health risk Beyond this one occupation, the book describes and gives examples of how to use epidemiology, toxicology, and other scientific approaches to general causation, the limitations of these approaches, and the translation of scientific knowledge into policy for worker protection The book describes the history, evolution, and rationale for legislation for “presumption” of work-relationship for particular cancers, which is now well established in most US and Australian states and Canadian provinces. Includes supplementary material: sn.pub/extras

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