WEST Yorkshire Fire & Rescue Service has suspended training at a landmark site after 11 firefighters fell ill during training there in the last year.

For years the service has used the Tees Barrage in Stockton for water rescue training.

But in a new report into staff injuries over the past year, West Yorkshire Fire Authority has revealed that 11 firefighters became ill after training at the site over a 12 month period.

And a spokesman for the Fire Brigades Union says that the issue of staff developing “sickness and diarrhoea” has been one that goes back several years.

The service uses the site for training officers how to cope with extreme rescues, and includes recovering people from partly submerged cars.

A spokesman said staff no longer train in the barrage due to a “drive to improve health and safety” but pointed out that only a small number of those involved in the training, four per cent, became ill.

The Authority’s Human Resource Committee meets on Friday and will discuss accidents involving staff in the past 12 months.

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A section of the report refers to injuries or sickness caused by “exposure to.” This can include exposure to hazardous substances, heat/fire, explosions, or noise harming a firefighter’s health.

It says: “There were 31 accidents in total which is an increase of six (24 per cent) compared to the previous year. There were two main activities which stood out during the analysis.

“The first was illness following attendance at Tees Barrage to undertake swift water rescue training, which accounted for 11 cases (35 per cent).

“This is something Training Centre and H&S have been monitoring for some time and following a spate of illnesses in December, a decision was taken to suspend training at Tees Barrage and to investigate other possible training venues.

“Alternatives have been found and reported illnesses to date have been fewer, but will continue to be monitored.”

It said another cause of “exposure to” accidents as exposure to heat during training exercises. but the report says “realistic training” is a necessary part of the job, and this can sometimes lead to injury.

Dave Williams, Yorkshire and Humberside Regional Secretary for the Fire Brigades Union, said problems with staff falling sick after training at the site date back years.

He said: “I’ve raised this dozens of times over the years. Concerns were raised at the very highest level.

“I’m in favour of realistic training, but the amount of days lost to sickness was too much. We asked them to stop using the site.

“Firefighters used to dread going there because they knew what was coming – they knew they might have two days where they were too sick to get out of bed.

“We welcome the fact they are not using it anymore, but we’ve been raising this for some time.”

A Fire Service spokesperson said: “There are significant risks to crews associated with undertaking swift water rescues and it is therefore important that we expose crews to realistic training, allowing them to practice managing these risks in a relatively safe and controlled environment.

“Tees Barrage is a manmade water sports venue which provides an excellent opportunity for crews to train in and is one of a number of venues we train at.

“You cannot provide realistic training without exposing crews to some level of risk. One such risk associated with water rescue training is accidentally swallowing the water, which can then make crews poorly; mainly sickness and diarrhoea.

“Unfortunately towards the end of last year we experienced a number of crew members becoming ill and took the decision to temporarily suspend using the facility and to explore other alternative sites.

“It is important to keep this in perspective; we have sent a significant numbers of staff to train at Tees and the vast majority report no illness with only around 4 per cent reporting becoming ill. The decision to move away from Tees and investigate alternative venues was part of the ongoing drive to improve staff health and safety. The majority of reported illnesses resolve themselves within 48 hrs.”

The service is currently training at the River Lune in Lancaster, the River Ure in Sleningford, the River Wharfe in Ilkley and the River Aire in Bingley.

The Telegraph & Argus contacted Tees Active, which runs the Barrage, for comment.