Priority Three
Our Service is recognised as a great place to work: our staff feel valued, supported, safe, and well-trained to deliver a high-performing fire and rescue service.
Workplace culture in emergency services has attracted media attention recently, prompting HM Inspectorate to undertake a cultural audit of all fire and rescue services. In support of the findings, we had already started our own cultural improvement journey, where we introduced processes to actively promote the reporting of unwelcome conduct, such as introducing Speak Up Guardians throughout the organisation to support all staff and enable them to raise concerns safely and confidentially. Where conduct is reported, we would always prefer to educate and improve behaviours by encouraging self-reflection, but we have disciplined or dismissed employees in necessary cases.
As part of our recruitment activity, we attend community and careers events, demonstrating the opportunities available for people of all backgrounds to join our Service and contribute to their communities. We support the professional development of all employees, enabling a career pathway for those who wish to explore and achieve their potential.
The safety and welfare of our staff is paramount. At incidents and within our workplaces, we monitor for actions or events which increase risks to safety and review the key factors to understand how recurrences should be prevented.
We offer crews support with defusing after particularly harrowing or emotionally impactive incidents. This now includes our control room staff. We monitor crews who may be frequently exposed to such incidents, offering improved mental health and stress awareness guidance.