Avon firefighters and staff ‘scared’ to report bullying and harassment, government inspectors find

Avon firefighters and staff are “scared” to report bullying and harassment because they fear a QR code that bosses have given them to scan to report incidents will identify them, government inspectors found. His Majesty’s Inspectorate of Constabulary and Fire & Rescue Services (HMICFRS) revisited the fire and rescue service following damning findings a year ago that it was “inadequate” at responding to fires, some employees disguised sexist and inappropriate behaviour as “banter” and that the control room’s computer system “crashes” during 999 calls.

But in their latest letter to the organisation, the inspectors said that one of two “accelerated” causes of concern, its mobilisation system, had been fixed with a software upgrade and that it was now “reliable and stable”. And while improvements had been made to the other, Avon Fire and Rescue Service’s (AFRS’s) risk information process, there was “still more to do”.

The letter following the revisit in September, published on Thursday, October 24, said good progress had been made against one of two further causes of concern, raised following the previous seven-week inspection from May to July 2023, about fire prevention and that the organisation had cleared its backlog of 249 overdue home fire safety visits. The service was also more focused on prevention work with high-risk occupants, such as hoarders.

But staff told the inspectors there were still problems surrounding the last cause of concern, about the need for senior leaders to continue improving the service’s culture. The letter said: “In our last inspection, we said that we were concerned that some behaviours we were told about didn’t meet the standards expected.

“And there isn’t a strong culture of challenge within the service. During our revisit, we spoke to many staff who felt the service needs to improve the way it communicates what it is doing to address the cause of concern.

“Some staff that we spoke to said they have little confidence in the service’s commitment to improve.” It said that in August 2023, AFRS launched an independent reporting line run by an external organisation that allowed staff to report any workforce issues.

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But the report said: “A QR code is provided to help access information more quickly. Since its introduction, 12 reports have been received.

“Three cases have progressed to formal investigations and others have been addressed informally and locally. We were told by staff that this initiative was poorly communicated initially.

“This resulted in fear and the term ‘being QR coded’ often being used. For example, some staff felt scared about speaking about certain topics as they feared that whatever they said may be ‘QR coded’.

“The service provided further communication to its workforce to address the concerns. But some staff felt more needs to be done.”

It said the service had established a professional standards board comprising various staff, external advisers and an employment lawyer to decide disciplinary investigations but that most employees did not know about it. “They also had reservations about how the service completes investigations and the length of time they take,” the inspectors said.

“And some felt the service needs to be better at managing allegations and incidents of bullying, harassment and discrimination. We were told by a few staff about behaviour that wasn’t in line with the service’s values.

“The service needs to review the support it provides to staff raising workforce concerns and those who may be subject to an investigation. Wellbeing support is offered in correspondence sent to the affected parties, but staff felt this was a ‘tick box exercise’.

“We also spoke to those staff who may be assigned the welfare officer role and required to provide additional support. But they haven’t been provided with the appropriate training or guidelines and processes that they should follow.”

The inspectors said that while improvements had been made to the risk information process, two of nine records it sampled of buildings or other places of higher risk had no information about the site to help crews on 99 calls understand issues such as evacuation procedures – a 14-storey office building and a seven-floor student block. AFRS Chief Fire Officer Simon Shilton said: “Our teams have worked incredibly hard, despite tight budgets and with limited resources, to implement the ambitious action plans developed after the initial inspection from HMICFRS last year.

“I’m pleased to see the inspectorate has acknowledged these efforts, particularly in closing the accelerated cause of concern surrounding the mobilisation system. It’s great to see them recognise the plans our teams have put in place, the work that has been done and the progress that has been made.

“While there is still more to do, I am fully committed to ensuring we continue to make the improvements needed and build on the strong foundations we have made. Most importantly, I hope these findings reassure local people that we’re doing everything we can to provide a fire and rescue service that is efficient, effective and good value for money, just as they expect and deserve.”