The FBU stated that the outbreak at SFRS has left its firefighters ‘struggling to maintain fire cover’, after SFRS ‘failed to properly implement vital health and safety measures’, with ‘as many as seven’ fire appliances having been unavailable ‘at any one time from the outbreak’ – adding up to 30% of SFRS’ full time appliances. One firefighter tested positive on 25 July after undertaking two days of training exercises ‘without proper infection prevention and control measures’.
This meant that 20 other SFRS personnel had to be ‘removed from duty for self-isolation’, as safety critical exercises had been reintroduced in the county after being paused due to the pandemic. The FBU claims however that ‘proper control measures have not been put in place’, and while it supported the reintroduction of training, it was not consulted over risk assessments, which meant SFRS was able to ‘mark its own homework’.
SFRS firefighters have in turn reported that social distancing was ‘not maintained’ during the training, with face masks not worn during classroom learning sessions and water bottles and cooling measures ‘were shared between firefighters’. The FBU noted that fire and rescue services (FRSs) ‘are required to plan for major emergencies like pandemics’, especially on the ‘impact they can have on staffing’, but SFRS has cut 31% of its firefighters and control staff since 2010.
It also removed four appliances in April, and a further three are set to be removed in October, with SFRS firefighters having launched a six month industrial action campaign last December that was paused due to the pandemic, and they have been aiding the local COVID-19 response. The FBU warned that a ‘decade of cuts have put the service in an extremely vulnerable position, annihilating any resilience’ to outbreaks – and it called the removal of further cover ‘reckless and dangerous’.
The union pointed out that it wrote to all four UK governments in May calling for a ‘moratorium’ on FRS cuts, stating that those planned ‘do not account for significant risks’ like the pandemic, with SFRS not mentioning pandemics in its risk management document ‘despite flu pandemics being rated the highest category risk’ in the National Risk Register of Civil Emergencies (BRR), which ‘identifies the risks that services should prepare for’.
About 60% of national FRSs also do not mention pandemics or flu in their integrated risk management plans (IRMPs) which ‘outline how they will manage risks to the safety of the public in their area’, and also highlight the ‘greatest threats’ as well as addressing resourcing, firefighter safety and budgeting. The FBU called for ‘routine weekly’ COVID-19 tests on all firefighters and control staff, ‘but have so far been ignored’ by ministers.
FBU regulation secretary Joe Weir commented: ‘Surrey firefighters have shown incredible dedication to their communities during this pandemic, but their brigade hasn’t shown the same dedication to keeping staff safe – and now it’s seriously impacting fire cover. We support bringing back safety-critical training but only if proper infection control measures are in place. Sadly, [SFRS] has just returned to business as usual, as though we aren’t in the middle of a pandemic.
‘They’ll say they’ve risk-assessed the activities, but without union input, they’re simply marking their own homework. Frankly, if Surrey’s fire service was properly staffed, they would be able to safely manage an outbreak like this. But a decade of cuts have put the service in an extremely vulnerable position, annihilating any resilience. Cutting another three fire engines in October would be reckless and dangerous.’
In the early stages of lockdown, the FBU, the National Fire Chiefs Council (NFCC) and the national employer confirmed that additional activities to assist other key services during the pandemic had been agreed for FRS staff, including mask face fitting, delivering personal protective equipment (PPE), administering tests, and driving as well as training on driving ambulances.
In April, a further agreement saw 300 London Fire Brigade (LFB) firefighters drive ambulances and assist paramedics in London’s pandemic response, after news that firefighters would aim to protect the vulnerable in society by avoiding hospitals and care homes, as part of an agreed ‘critical risk-based service’.
Prior to this, FRS staff had been confirmed to be undertaking COVID-19 antigen testing, driving non blue light ambulance transport and non COVID patients, and training others to drive ambulances for the same services. Other activities ‘requested by partner organisations’ were ‘still under discussion’. Also in April, it was revealed that over 4,000 FRS staff had volunteered to assist the other key services, while a further 10,000 staff were ‘on standby to assist as and when required’.
In May, the three bodies agreed firefighters could build protective face shields for frontline NHS staff and care staff, and transfer patients from and to Nightingale hospitals, alongside packaging and repackaging food supplies. That month, the NFCC confirmed FRSs would ‘work with local partners to support care homes’ and stop the spread of COVID-19, and then confirmed that the FRS agreements have been ‘extended’ following ‘extensive negotiations’ that lasted ‘a number of days’.
FRSs ‘remain at the heart of the response’, and continue to undertake the agreed activities ‘until at least’ 26 July, with the potential to ‘extend further’ to 26 August ‘if joint work on reviewing assessments is agreed and concluded’. Last month, it pointed out that with the COVID-19 pandemic potentially continuing ‘for the next few months, even years’, there will be changes for FRSs, before the NFCC shared FRS staff experiences during the lockdown.
The FBU recently confirmed that firefighters and FRS staff would ‘continue delivering’ the additional responsibilities until the end of September.