DECON - fire station building design principles

Conference commends the progressive work undertaken by Professor Anna Stec, the University of Central Lancashire (UCLan) and the Fire Brigades Union to identify and mitigate firefighter exposure to cancer-causing carcinogens.

Conference also acknowledges that many of the 11 steps promoted by the UCLan interim best practice document can be undermined by outdated fire station building designs that fall short of protecting firefighters from exposure.

Conference also recognises that many stations fall short of providing facilities that enable firefighters to decontaminate and remove carcinogens effectively post incident.

Conference instructs the Executive Council to ensure that every Fire and Rescue Service embeds the principle of DECON in all future fire station designs. That retrospective work is undertaken where current building stock is unlikely to be replaced and to ensure, where identified, that any shortfalls that undermine DECON and the mitigation of exposure are addressed.