SENATE RESOLUTION

                         1991-8674

By Senators Matson, McMullen, Vognild, Gaspard, Roach, von Reichbauer, Johnson and Talmadge

      WHEREAS, Law enforcement officers and fire fighters regularly face occupational hazards that, according to some studies, may result in a higher incidence of heart disease and cancer than would be expected for that population; and

      WHEREAS, Difficult problems of proof may be inherent in occupational disease claims made by law enforcement officers and fire fighters based on heart disease and cancer; and

      WHEREAS, Thirty-eight states have enacted some type of rebuttable presumption provision in their respective industrial insurance laws with respect to these types of occupational disease claims; and

      WHEREAS, Resolution of the policy questions raised by the above-described occupational hazards requires careful analysis of factual, medical, and legal data;

      NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED, That the department of labor and industries, with the assistance of the department of environmental health at the University of Washington and the state department of health, is requested to conduct a study of the unique occupational disease hazards encountered by law enforcement officers and fire fighters, and the efficacy of the occupational disease claim procedure, including but not limited to the following questions:

      (1) The incidence of certain types of cancer in the law enforcement and fire fighter populations, giving due consideration to confounding variables, compared to an appropriate control group population.  Consideration should be given to limiting the comparison to certain types of cancer;

      (2) The incidence of heart disease, or of certain types of heart disease in the law enforcement officer and fire fighter population, giving due consideration to confounding variables, compared to an appropriate control group population;

      (3) The problems of proof associated with occupational disease claims of law enforcement officers and fire fighters, particularly those claims based on heart disease and cancer; and

      BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED, That in the conduct of the study the department use the services of an advisory committee, appointed by the director, with representation from the following groups:  Law enforcement and fire fighter employee associations, local government officials or risk managers, one or more members of the Washington state bar association whose practices are largely limited to industrial insurance, one or more members of the Washington state medical association who specialize in industrial health, either as providers or researchers, and other members as the director may find appropriate; and

      BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED, That the study be completed and the findings reported to the legislature by December 1, 1992.

I, Gordon A. Golob, Secretary of the Senate,

do hereby certify that this is a true and

correct copy of Senate Resolution 1991-8674,

adopted by the Senate April 28, 1991.

GORDON A. GOLOB

Secretary of the Senate