Workers

Please submit a completed Worker’s Report of Occupational Disease (Form 6S) to open a claim for a presumptive cancer for firefighters.

For career and volunteer firefighters, 19 cancers are presumed to be a consequence of their employment so we can make faster decisions on their claims.

The 19 cancers, and the prescribed criteria, are:

Cancers Included in Firefighter Presumption

For diseases listed in first table: Diagnosed with the listed disease on or after December 14, 2015 for career firefighters, and diagnosed with the listed disease on or after January 1, 2017 for volunteer firefighters.

Disease	Minimum Years of Service
primary site brain cancer	10
primary site bladder cancer	15
primary site colorectal cancer*	20
primary site esophagea cancer	25
primary leukemia	5
primary site lung cancer**	15
primary site kidney cancer	20
primary non-Hodgkin lymphoma	20
primary site testicular cancer	20
primary site ureter cancer	15
primary site breast cancer	10

For diseases listed below: Diagnosed with the listed disease on or after December 18, 2019 for both career and volunteer firefighters.

Disease	Minimum Years of Service
primary site penile cancer	15
primary site pancreatic cancer	10
primary site thyroid cancer	10
multiple myeloma	15
primary site prostate cancer	15
primary site cervical cancer	10
primary site ovarian cancer	10
primary site skin cancer	15

Minimum years of service: Cumulative sum of all employment periods as a firefighter, with regular exposure to the hazards of a fire scene, other than a forest fire scene.

*Primary site colorectal cancer: Presumption excludes firefighters with a primary site colorectal cancer diagnosis obtained after the age of 61.

**Primary site lung cancer: The firefighter must not have smoked or inhaled a tobacco product in the ten years prior to the date of diagnosis.

The time needed to make a decision on your claim depends on many circumstances including the nature of the medical condition; the amount of information available; how long it takes to gather and confirm your workplace exposure information; and how long it takes to obtain all relevant medical information.

WorkplaceNL will first give you a claim number. Please use this number whenever you contact us. We will then review your application, gather any required information and ask you for further information if necessary.

We will contact you, or your authorized representative, to discuss your claim and provide you with our contact details. We will advise you, or your authorized representative, of the decision in writing.