On Tuesday I undertook my Fire Marshall training which was conducted in my workplace by a trainer from West Yorkshire Fire and Rescue. As it was the third time I have done the course (it’s obligatory every three years) I attended expecting the same old stuff as the previous two episodes, but a different trainer meant the course content was slightly different. I will be forever grateful to the chap, as now I know the best fuel to light a barbecue with is a packet of cheesy wotsits; although today the FBU assured me that monster munch works just as well (and as they are cheaper, are more cost effective) plus the pickled onion flavour tastes so foul setting light to them is probably classified as an humanitarian act keeping them out of the food chain.
Anyway less of potato based snacks,
I digress.
WYFRS explained the Triangle of Fire - fuel, heat and oxygen and said it was our duty to report and if possible rectify fire hazards if we saw them in our workplace. One of the examples he gave was a picture of a cassette radio adjacent to curtains on a bedroom windowsill; he admitted that this had been taken in a bedroom at Fire Service Headquarters at Birkenshaw and that one of the recruits when training had placed it there (he did add, bless him that they hadn't had recruits in a fair while and that it was a very old piccie) at which I may, or may not, have had a small coughing fit to try and prevent a sarcastic remark escaping from my lips.
Then we were asked what we would do to the person who had been stupid enough to cause a fire hazard in the first place?
A spot of banter ensued and the sanctions varied from a telling off to sacking them for gross misconduct! None of which were right apparently ............ people doing things that may have potentially endangered life or property offered staff
"development opportunities" he said. It was an opportunity to show them the error of their ways and support them to understand what they had done wrong and to teach them the right way.
For once I have to say I agree with somebody from FSHQ !
But now I am confused...........
IF the advice from WYFRS is that making mistakes is to be seen as an opportunity to do good and develop people professionally, why on earth have they dismissed Firefighter Phil Miller for a one off act that took place on a picket line?
For what he is alleged to have done I'm not saying that he should get off scot free, but surely it is a gross waste of tax payers’ money to dismiss a highly trained staff member who over the years will have accumulated masses of experience and matured into the role he undertook.
It would surely be a decent manager with integrity who acknowledged an error made by their staff and dealt with it "in house” rather than using a sledgehammer to crack a highly trained and experienced nut by dismissing them.
An even better manager would work with the union concerned to ensure that there was a mutual understanding of unacceptable behaviour!
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| The Star Trek Effect! |
How much it costs to train a fire fighter to a competent standard I don’t know, but I expect it runs into the many tens of thousands of pounds?
Is it worth throwing all of that training away in one fell swoop?
No of course it isn’t.
The councillors who oversee the fire authority (listed below) are perhaps the ones we should all hold to account. At the present the Human Resources Committee is as follows, as you can see it is the Labour party who hold sway; most of whom will have at some point in their careers been on demos, picket lines etc and would surely understand the emotional nature of such events. Yet they allowed senior management to dismiss Phil Miller.
| Labour | Conservative | Liberal Democrat |
| Cllr R Grahame (Vice chair) | Cllr P Caffrey | Cllr C Burke |
| Cllr M Hardy | Cllr L Holmes | |
| Cllr M Harland | Cllr A Taylor | |
| Cllr M Khan | Cllr G Wilkinson | |
| Cllr G Thornton (Chair) | ||
| Cllr A Wainwright |
The FBU firefighters who are striking and campaigning are aiming to change things for the betterment of all, not just union members.
Any benefits gained from the removal of ones labour is an act for the collective
long term good of Fire and Rescue.
Surely this incident would offer WYFRS managers the mother of all
development opportunities!
But they chose to use a sledgehammer to crack a nut - I can therefore only presume the act of dismissing Phil was an act of vengeance and spite (and extremely unprofessional too!)
Shame on You WYFRS, although from what we have seen here at FCCL they don't manage staff as much as intimidate them into submission.
So
We wish you the very best Phil and we will support you in whatever way we can and we are confident that Thompsons and the FBU in partnership will fight your corner at an Employment Tribunal. Talk to them, get your day in court - its what you paid your subs for!
And because we are in a philosophical mood we will end with an appropriate quote for all WYFRS Managers.....
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