NIOSH Highlights Training on Contamination Control Strategies for Firefighters

An interactive course titled “Contamination Control Strategies for the Fire Service” focuses on updated information regarding firefighters’ risk of cancer, exposure pathways, and controls that can be used to lessen exposures. The course, which was developed by NIOSH and the Fire Safety Research Institute, also aims to help individuals understand the hierarchy of controls. FSRI recommends that individuals who are interested in completing the training have a “working knowledge of the thermal and chemical exposures associated with firefighting.” A separate short lesson on thermal and chemical exposures in the fire service is available to provide this information.

According to a recent email update from the National Firefighter Registry for Cancer, the course on contamination control strategies also includes a module about the NFR that may be helpful for firefighters who are interested in learning more about the registry or who haven’t yet enrolled.

NIOSH describes the NFR as “the largest effort ever undertaken to understand and reduce risk of cancer among U.S. firefighters.” The NFR enrollment site is now back online after it became unavailable earlier this year following reduction-in-force notices to NIOSH staff.

To learn more about the NFR, visit NIOSH’s website. The new training on contamination control strategies is available for free via the FSRI website and includes a certificate of completion.

Related: Read "Introducing the National Firefighter Registry for Cancer," an article in the June/July 2023 issue of The Synergist that focuses on this effort to understand and reduce cancer in firefighters.