Brief History

The Chemical Injury Relief Foundation was formed as a non-profit organization in June 1996, in Toronto, Ontario, by Brian Hack who met with chemically injured persons in response to the following public health conditions:

• A growing public health risk;
• Lack of appropriate recognition, treatment and control;
• Public funds spent to withhold help with a result of increased non productive expense, public health risk, and discrimination;
• The technology and knowledge available to relieve many problems.

A number of chemically injured and disabled persons met for more than one year to identify and discuss the special needs, problems, and solutions to determine what can be done and who can do it. CIRF is a product of that discussion. It is an organization dedicated to a wholistic approach to prevention and appropriate accommodation of persons handicapped by chemical injury. It was determined that by using available technology and knowledge, affordable accommodation designed to provide appropriate avoidance control would meet many special needs of treatment, provide a point of reference for measuring both illness control and prevention, and by this limit public liability and reduce public health risk through the implementation.