site.btaFirefighters Union Calls for Adoption of Preventive Legislation

In a statement on the occasion of International Firefighters’Day, May 4, the National Union of Firefighters and Rescuers urged for ensuring healthy working conditions that guarantee every firefighter returns home alive and well.

“It is unacceptable that in 2026 many firefighters and rescuers in Bulgaria experience shortages of protective clothing at work. Ensuring proper decontamination of clothing after every incident is the first step in our effort to stop long-term exposure to toxic substances, which often remains a hidden but dangerous consequence of daily fieldwork,” said union leader Ventsislav Stankov, quoted by the union’s press centre.

The European Federation of Public Service Unions (EPSU) is running a campaign at the European and international level for the adoption of binding legislation to recognize cancer as an occupational disease among firefighters. This proposal is based on a 2022 study conducted by the International Agency for Research on Cancer under the World Health Organization, which classifies cancer resulting from firefighting activities as “Group 1” – the highest level of carcinogenic exposure, the union’s statement said.

The union’s demands aim to improve and expand conditions for preventive medical check-ups among workers in the sector, enable early diagnosis of various cancers, and ensure proper decontamination after operational activities. Of particular importance to the proposal are also providing security for employees and their families, as well as introducing a comprehensive approach to employee care that minimizes the risks accumulated as a post-effect of firefighting and rescue work.

The Fifefighters Union also urged MEP Petar Volgin, who sits on the EP Committee on Employment and Social Affairs, to support the proposed amendments to Directive 2004/37/EC on the protection of workers from risks related to exposure to carcinogens, mutagens, or reprotoxic substances at work - particularly the expansion of its scope by adding new substances and setting updated limit values. The proposed amendments represent an important step toward a higher level of protection for workers in the European Union, including emergency service personnel, the union stated.

A call for urgent legislative measures to protect the health and lives of firefighters and emergency service employees was also issued on Sunday by the Trade Union Federation of Employees of the Ministry of Interior on the occasion of May 4. They insist on improving working conditions and providing modern protective equipment, enhanced medical monitoring and prevention, as well as adequate funding and staffing of the system.