Union slams HSE report

The FBU fire brigades’ union has warned that the Health and Safety Executive has undermined its status as an independent regulator. The union says an HSE investigation into the use of breathing apparatus (BA) could pave the way for firefighters to be sent beyond the “bridgehead” in a tower block, the highest safe point in the building, without activated BA.

The union accused the HSE of completely misunderstanding the realities of firefighting and said it had failed to conduct field tests, instead relying on employers’ assertions. It is advising its members not to place themselves in danger above the bridgehead without activated BA and called on the HSE to withdraw and review its conclusions. The HSE investigation supports proposals from the National Fire Chiefs Council (see Workplace Report October 2023).

“Asking firefighters to go beyond the point of safety, the bridgehead, without protection from breathing apparatus is dangerous and unlawful,” said FBU general secretary Matt Wrack. “The FBU has no confidence in the HSE’s investigation. It is flawed, contradictory and an insult to the firefighting profession, and undermines the status of the HSE as an independent safety regulator.”

He said the union was cut out of the investigation while the opinion of fire service employers was taken as fact.

“Its conclusion is perverse, and licenses the intentional exposure of firefighters to harmful substances, despite a clear, safer alternative being available,” he added. “The HSE must withdraw and review this dangerous decision immediately.”