Bushfires in Australia
Bushfires are a natural, essential and complex part of the Australian environment and have been for thousands of years. Bushfires can significantly impact on lives, property and the environment.
Bushfires are unplanned vegetation fires and can include grass fires, forest fires and scrub fires.
Risks of bushfires increase in hot, dry and windy weather that dry out vegetation in advance of a fire starting. This creates a fuel that is more likely to catch fire and leads to a fast spread of fire.1
Some parts of Australia are prone to bushfires year-round, but broadly there are two bushfire seasons in Australia:
- In northern Australia – during the dry season throughout winter and spring
- In southern Australia – during summer and autumn.1
Bushfire Risks
There are multiple hazards that result from bushfires and include high intensity smoke exposure and smoke pollution. 1
Fire smoke produces different compounds that are released into the environment including particulate matter, water vapour and organic and inorganic gases such as carbon monoxide, nitrogen dioxide, polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons, formaldehyde, benzene and acrolein. These compound emissions depend on the region and fuel or the type of burning material, such as wood, plastics, chemical compounds (e.g. paints, pesticides) and oils. 2
Individuals exposed to fire smoke can experience different health effects, physically and mentally with varying severity levels. These can include airway and eye hypersensitivity, changes in vascular, pulmonary and cardiopulmonary function, cancers and death.2
Working Near Bushfires
For workers working near bushfires, the employer has responsibilities to eliminate the risk of bushfires in the workplace, or if that is not reasonably practicable, minimise the risks so far as is reasonably practicable.
Monitoring the bushfire situation in the local area you work in, especially if you work in a bushfire prone area like bushland, grassland, woodland, or near the coast.
All states and territories have now implemented nationally consistent fire danger rating and warning systems:
- The Australian Fire Danger Ratings System (AFDRS) provides information about the risks of bushfires in the local area, and
- the Australian Warning System (AWS) provides warnings during emergencies such as bushfires.
Workers must be prepared and inform your workers of any procedures or processes that you put in place in the event of a bushfire.4
If it’s not safe for work
A worker has the right to stop unsafe work if there’s a serious risk to their health and safety and should tell their employer when it’s unsafe to work.4
Emergency Response Services and Bushfires
Emergency Response Services in Australia respond to a range of hazards and support communities to be fire ready, working together with other emergency service agencies to keep communities safe. 3
Given the nature of the role, firefighters, both volunteer and professional, are among the most vulnerable groups of the population due to the regular exposure to health damaging compounds when near to bushfires. 3
Firefighters who most commonly operate in more rural settings experience a different working environment to those who are mainly structural firefighters operating in more urban environments. Often, rurally based firefighters responding to bushfires are relocated to temporary accommodation adjacent to the fire. This means that they may not be fully removed from exposure until the fire is extinguished and often work long shifts doing prolonged heavy work in dense smoke over a period of days to weeks.3
It has been found that adverse respiratory effects were experienced in firefighters responding to bushfires. This includes an increase in respiratory symptoms short-term and up to 2-3 years after bushfire fighting. There is also an increase in the risk of developing lung cancer predicted in bushfire fighting. 3
Firefighters work in hazardous and challenging environments, often working prolonged hours and under great physical exertion. Firefighters are therefore required to meet stringent medical and psychological standards to ensure they can fully exercise the functions of a firefighter and meet the fitness standard of a firefighter.
Given the nature of the role and exposure to smoke, firefighters need to have and maintain good respiratory and cardiovascular health. Different Emergency Response Services will have specific fitness standards that firefighters are required to meet.
Next Steps
At MAX Health, we provide Firefighting Medical and Fitness for Duty assessments for volunteer and professional firefighting organisations across Australia. We also provide Occupational Respiratory Testing and Health Surveillance for workers who are or may be exposed to respiratory hazardous.
Please contact our friendly team for further information on support@injurynet.com.au or talk to your Program Manager.
For all enquiries about our Firefighting Medical and Fitness for Duty assessments
References
- Hazards – Bushfires | Australian Climate Service
- The effect of fire smoke exposure on firefighters’ lung function: a meta-analysis. Joana V. Barbosa, Mariana Farraia 1 , Pedro T. B. S. Branco 1,2 , Maria Conceição M. Alvim-Ferraz 1,2 , Fernando G. Martins 1,2 , Isabella Annesi-Maesano 3 and Sofia I. V. Sousa. International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health 2022, 19, 16799.
- Systematic review of impacts of occupational exposure to wildfire smoke on respiratory function, symptoms, measures and diseases – ScienceDirect
- Working outside – Working near bushfires | Safe Work Australia
