These were just some of the questions asked
by our staff during informal discussions about culture carried out
as part of a review of equality.
As a Brigade we did not want our staff to be frightened
or embarrassed through lack of knowledge about our ‘customers’,
neither did we want our staff to inadvertently upset members of
different cultures through ignorance.
Shropshire Fire and Rescue Service therefore delivered a 12-month
programme of training for all members of the brigade designed to
raise awareness about diversity and cultural issues.
Following the creation of the Shropshire & Wrekin Fire Authority, an
opportunity existed for equality matters to be dealt with in a
different way from the past. Deputy Chief Fire Officer Paul Raymond was appointed in June 1998 as Personal Development Manager, with special responsibility
for equality and fairness matters.
Prompted by the Steven Lawrence enquiry, the
Fire Service Inspectorate undertook a thematic review of equality
and fairness in the Fire Service in 1999. The resulting
action plan - Toward Diversity – Promoting Cultural
Change covered five key issues:
The Service had by that time already carried out a complete review
of equality policies and practices and every member of staff had
completed a cultural audit questionnaire, laying the foundations
for the Service's future equality policy. This has been the
cornerstone of all equality matters, backed up by a challenging
strategy document - Quality Means Equality (endorsed
by the representative bodies), which had targets in five crucial
areas. The Thematic Review added to our desire for cultural change
within the service.
In order to support the required cultural changes a small equality
team was set up, including Maurice Brookes, a lay official with
the Fire Brigade's Union (FBU) and Rabinder Dhami, an existing
Community Fire Safety Officer.
By early 2000 the team had delivered harassment and bullying
training to all members of staff. Equality training was viewed
as an ongoing issue much the same as BA skills or first aid so
an equality training strategy was devised.
The Provision of Cultural Awareness Training
Training on harassment and bullying was relatively easy to develop
and deliver, but cultural awareness was, for us, a far more complex
issue to deal with. The local Race Equality Council was approached
and supported us in the training process.
In partnership with the Local Health Authorities a two-day training
package was established and delivered to all full time staff during
the summer of 2000 by various members of our minority ethnic communities,
covering issues such as:
To deliver the same training to Retained personnel
would have proven difficult and costly. The two days training was,
instead,
condensed into two hours and was completed in March 2001.
The effectiveness of these courses was confirmed in October 2001
by feedback from our successful reassessment for Investors in People.
Conclusions
In providing cultural awareness training, the Service has built
on the basic principles of equality and fairness that were established
during the harassment & bullying training.
Raising awareness of culture and diversity is seen as an important
part of the Service being recognised as an Employer of Choice by
people belonging to minority ethnic groups.
In answer to the question that is posed in the title… this
Service believes very strongly that cultural awareness is an essential
part of fire service training, and yes it probably is a sign of
the times… times that are hopefully much more enlightened
than the past.
Further Information
Natalie Hill, Equality & Diversity Officer at Shropshire Fire & Rescue Service on 01743 260 236
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