Emergency services / Complaints about state of two fire stations reported to Health and Safety Executive
Scottish Fire and Rescue Service ‘supportive’ of the move
SCOTTISH Fire and Rescue Service (SFRS) is “supportive” of moves to report it to the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) about the state of Shetland’s fire stations.
The Fire Brigades Union (FBU) has complained about the lack of toilets and shower facilities, and heating, at both Walls and Bressay with HSE.
The union’s health and safety representative Scott MacRory said they would also be reporting Hillswick to HSE as a matter of concern too. MacRory said that while SFRS “would have liked to have avoided it”, they were ultimately “supportive” of the FBU’s approach.
It comes after community safety and resilience committee chairman Allison Duncan threatened earlier this year to report SFRS to health and safety chiefs about the lack of available facilities in the three stations.
As many as nine of Shetland’s 14 fire stations have no water facilities.
He had repeated that threat to SFRS officials last Monday, giving them one final chance to convince him they were taking immediate action.
But after the Scottish Government failed to ring-fence funding for a new, dedicated West Mainland facility last week, Duncan gave the FBU the green light to report the fire brigade to HSE.
MacRory admitted it was “pretty uncommon” for the FBU to have to bring up SFRS about safety concerns – but said it was a necessary next step.
“The service has been very transparent about their financial difficulties,” he said.
“They’ve received their funding from the Scottish Government, but that will disappear into the ether.
“We’re all in agreement that real change needs to be made, and that these stations are not fit for purpose.”
HSE could make a decision on the stations within the next three weeks and could order SFRS to improve them.
However SFRS is currently reviewing all of its fire stations across Scotland, and several warnings have been made by fire officials that closures are not off the table.
MacRory said it “wasn’t quite a last resort” for the FBU to report the fire brigade for health and safety concerns, but that it was a fairly significant step.
But he said they were “putting members at risk”, and something needed to be done.
Fire stations affected by RAAC concrete were SFRS’ top priority at present, he said, and he agreed with that approach.
MacRory said, however, that the Highlands and Islands had “some of the worst fire stations in the UK” – which needed addressed urgently.
HSE can order SFRS to improve the stations or it could close them entirely, something MacRory said they would “ultimately like to avoid”.
Despite the speed of repairs needed, MacRory said he would expect “little change” in the next year because of “how slowly the wheels turn”.
Fire chief Matt Mason has been given autonomy to find “solutions, if possible” to the issues being felt at these stations – such as a lack of toilet and wash facilities.
MacRory said that could include temporary facilities which would be based outside the stations, with running showers or toilets.
“It could be a decade before we see any new stations,” he added.
“It would be easier for the service to fund new assets rather than new buildings, and it comes out of a different budget.
“It’s more likely they would be able to find funding, and more attractive to the service, to spend money on assets rather than a station that costs £2 million.”
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