Time to deliver: FBU national rally and lobby of Parliament
Deregulation and ignored warnings on Grenfell are “national scandal”, says union
Recent reports have focused on the issue of ‘stay put’ guidance at the Grenfell Tower fire, with London Fire Commissioner Andy Roe saying that residents were asked “to stay put for too long”. In a statement, the Fire Brigades Union has said that while it is “right that stay put is reviewed for...
Don’t let them off the hook
The Grenfell Tower public inquiry is set to publish its final report on 4 September, more than seven years after the disaster. FBU national officer Mark Rowe, sets out the union’s perspective Never again. That was the sentiment after the Grenfell Tower fire on 14 June 2017, which cost the lives of...
HSE plans inspections over fire contaminants
The Health and Safety Executive (HSE) has set out plans to start inspecting fire and rescue services to regulate measures taken to protect firefighters from carcinogens. These inspections would cover a range of procedures and practices, from precautions at the scene of a fire, to how PPE and...
"Crews left exhausted": crisis of understaffing in Essex Fire and Rescue Service
The BBC has revealed that Essex Country Fire and Rescue Service (ECFRS) is facing a crisis in staffing, with a Freedom of Information request finding that the service moved firefighters from their usual bases to elsewhere in the county on 2,570 occasions in 2023. Crews are regularly asked to travel...
Fire Brigades Union welcomes HSE plans to inspect fire services on cancer prevention
The Health and Safety Executive (HSE) has set out plans to start inspecting fire and rescue services to regulate measures taken to protect firefighters from carcinogens. These inspections plan to cover a range of procedures and practices spanning from precautions at the scene of a fire to how PPE...
Pressing need for regulation
At even very low levels, chemicals of the PFAS group pose a serious threat that the UK government is slow to react to. Professor Andrew Watterson, public health researcher, University of Stirling, sets out the issues Firefighters have become increasingly familiar with and in contact with PFAS. Poly...
Firefighters raise safety concerns after flat fire
Firefighters in Scotland have raised safety concerns over cuts to specialist appliances for fighting high-rise fires following a blaze in a block of flats in March. Some 70 firefighters and 12 appliances from across Scotland, including specialist height appliances, were called to the incident in...
