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Brigade breaks into top 20 British gayfriendly employers |
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London Fire Brigade has again improved its position in a national list of gay-friendly employers, moving up to 13th place in Stonewall’s ‘Workplace Equality Index 2008’
Campaigning organisation Stonewall’s report celebrates the top 100 employers in Britain for lesbian, gay and bisexual (LGB) people. Alongside London Fire Brigade, other top employers include blue chip FTSE 100 companies, government departments and other local authorities, including West Yorkshire Fire and Rescue Authority. Stonewall looks at how well employers engage with LGB staff, customers and service users and alongside gay friendly policies, also collects evidence of actual practice like recruitment and mentoring. As one of the UK’s top 25 gay-friendly employers, London Fire Brigade was also visited to allow the results to be verified independently.
Delighted with the achievement
London Fire Brigade’s improvement on last year’s 28th place position is a result of the Brigade’s lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender group offering support for staff and raising the profile of the brigade at events and festivals, and the continued emphasis on improving services to the LGBT community. London Fire Brigade is also a visible presence at Pride celebrations every summer, marching alongside other emergency services and holding a reception at Soho fire station. London Fire Commissioner Ron Dobson said: “Last year’s result was great, but to now make it into Britain’s top 20 organisations is an achievement we’re delighted with. We know that the more diverse our organisation is, the better we’ll serve Londoners and hope this successful result will show many more of London’s gay, lesbian or bisexual residents that London Fire Brigade is a workplace that will suit them.” Councillor Liaquat Ali, Chair of the Human Resources, Equalities and Health and Safety Panel at London Fire and Emergency Planning Authority, said: “This result is impressive as we have not only maintained our score, but improved on it. As an authority it’s essential that we keep equality and diversity issues at the top of our agenda, not only for our staff but also for the Londoners we serve every day. Being part of this prestigious list of employers lets us know that we’re moving in the right direction and have maintained our position as the UK’s top gay-friendly fire and rescue service.”
Stonewall showcases West Yorkshire
West Yorkshire Fire and Rescue Authority has been showcased as one of the UK’s top employers for gay people. It is one of only two fire authorities in the country to make it into Stonewall’s prestigious top 100. The brigade is the highest ranking West Yorkshire local authority, above the Police and Leeds City Council.
“I’m delighted that we’re seen as a gay-friendly employer because it’s estimated that nearly two million people in the UK workforce unfortunately still feel fearful or unable to be open about their sexual orientation,” said ACO Allan Hughes.
“We featured in the Stonewall top 100 last year and since then have been working extremely hard to build on that success and become a more open and supportive employer. We now feature above blue chip organisations like the Audit Commission, Morgan Stanley, Ernst and Young and the American Express, meeting some 80 per cent of the assessment criteria.” West Yorkshire Fire and Rescue Service has completed a series of response driver courses to Leeds Bradford International Airport’s fire team. It is believed the officers, watch managers and crew managers, are the first airport firefighters to complete response and escort driver training with their local fire and rescue service.
Training of the 10 students took part as part of a memorandum of understanding between Leeds Bradford International Airport (LBIA) and West Yorkshire Fire and Rescue Service (WYFRS), which indicates WYFRS may call upon the services of LBIA fire teams in the event of an Aircraft Accident which occurs off the airport site, within a five mile radius. The course covered traffic legislation, procedures and practical training in appliance escort techniques. Andy Wood, Driver Training Manager for WYFRS, said: “Taking a large 32-ton airport tender onto the road requires specialist skills and techniques, which is where we came in by training managers on how to escort their tender to an incident using their own escort vehicle. The feedback from students has highlighted that the courses have been a success and they are very pleased with the training they received.” Colin Oxley, Airport Liaison Officer for WYFRS, said: “This additional area of inter service cooperation enhances the strong relationship that has been built between WYFRS and LBIA over the last three years. The working relationship has been observed by the Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) and they are recommending other airports and fire authorities take on this example as best practice.” Andy Hartley, Fire and Rescue Service Manager at Leeds Bradford International Airport, added: “The training will enable the Airport Fire Service to implement its offairport response in a safe manner and the training also demonstrates the close working liaison which continues to be developed between WYFRS and LBIA.” In 1995 West Yorkshire Fire and Rescue Service was one of the first brigades in the country to deliver response driver (blue light) training, which focused on attitude and behaviour. Now, in 2007, behavioural training is recognised as a large contributor to road safety. The training was so successful that within two years the brigade halved its accident statistics. Other brigades also recognised this success and expressed an interest in WYFRS training their instructors. This continues, as WYFRS only recently trained driving instructors from fire and rescue services in Grampian and Warwickshire.
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