Women specific illnesses

Uterine fibroids are non-cancerous tumours or growths that grow in or on the wall of the uterus or womb. Endometriosis is a condition where the tissue that lines the womb is found outside the womb, such as in the ovaries and fallopian tubes. 1 in 10 women suffer with this illness. The number of women firefighters reporting women specific illnesses such as these has increased in recent times.

These are two examples of women specific illnesses which can cause debilitating pain, abnormal bleeding, fatigue and depression, among other side effects. These side effects can make it difficult for women firefighters to work on the incident ground or in the control room and may mean that women need to book sick from work as a result. Depending on the severity, this could obviously have a knock on effect on their sickness records and result in disciplinary action, especially if the woman feels unable to disclose details of her illness to her manager.

These illnesses need to be acknowledged in our work place to ensure that our women Members are not left feeling undervalued, misunderstood, rejected, inadequate or fighting with their mental health.

Conference calls upon the Executive Council to work with the National Women’s Committee to produce a best practice guidance document to enable FBU Officials to be able to approach their Fire and Rescue Services to ensure that discrimination doesn’t take place. The best practice guidance will ensure such illnesses are fully considered in policies, reasonable adjustments are considered and sickness policies recognise these gender specific illnesses.

This work is to be completed within 12 months of Conference 2019.