South Yorkshire Fire and Rescue takes seriously the health and safety of its employees. Legally the Brigade must comply with the Health and Safety at Work Etc. Act 1974 and all the associated regulations. To ensure and monitor compliance the Brigade employs professional personnel for health and safety and Occupational Health. The range of issues is wide and varied and includes:
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Development of occupational safety and health policies;
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Providing advice to management on current legal matters and health issues;
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Accident investigation, reporting and analysis;
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Workplace audits;
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Training for health and safety (primarily NEBOSH and IOSH)
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Monitoring and advising on contractors;
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Providing advice on food hygiene matters;
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Liaison on environmental issues;
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Liaison with external agencies to determine best practice;
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Statutory health surveillance;
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Recruitment medicals including statutory and pre-employment;
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Fitness assessments for operational personnel;
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Workstation ergonomic assessments;
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Counselling and psychological de-briefing;
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Provision of a physiotherapy service;
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Individual health advice;
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Health promotion;
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Lifestyle assessments.
The Brigade has been successful in reducing major accidents in what is a hazardous occupation. These continual improvements resulted in the Brigade being awarded several RoSPA Gold Awards and the RoSPA Gold Medal.
Occupational Health Unit
South Yorkshire Fire and Rescue introduced an "in house" Occupational Health Unit in June 1998. Prior to this time the service had been provided on a contractual basis.
The Occupational Health Unit is headed by the Senior Occupational Health Adviser with, in addition, a second Occupational Health Nurse with specific counselling qualifications, the Brigade Medical Officer and clerical support.
Since its introduction the Occupational Health Unit has been able to tailor its service to meet the needs of the organisation more fully. During this time the unit has targeted two specific areas for development; health promotion and stress.
Health promotion is an essential part of occupational health work, but as those working in the field will testify it is often delivered on an ad-hoc basis. To enable us to incorporate health promotion into our routine work we have decided to take ourselves onto stations to deliver a package of health promotion to the whole watch.
To achieve this aim the Brigade has purchased a Mercedes Sprinter Van, which is furnished to accommodate all of our routine health screening and fitness testing equipment. It is envisaged that 3 yearly medical and fitness tests will be conducted on the mobile unit at individual stations, following which a series of health promotion packages will be on offer to the watch for information and discussion. Areas such as “Men’s Health”, “Women’s Health”, “Lifestyle” & “Stress” will be targeted but we will be open to requests for information on other areas of health.
The move towards providing a mobile occupational Health service has other distinct advantages, notably keeping personnel on the run and avoiding difficulties with availability
Stress, as everyone is aware, is a growing issue of concern in most sectors of employment. The Fire Service traditionally has hidden behind a rather militaristic culture when it comes to dealing with stressful situations. However in South Yorkshire Fire & Rescue, the Occupational Health Unit has seen a shift in these attitudes which can be attributed, to a large degree, to the provision of an on-site counselling service. In recent years we have seen the number of new referrals for counselling double. The service is provided by an Occupational Health Nurse with specialist qualifications in Counselling.
In recognition of the adverse psychological effects that can be experienced by some individuals following traumatic incidents, a strategy has been implemented for providing support to personnel following trauma. One of the strategies involves de-briefing by the Occupational Health Unit. Of the incidents that have required such intervention the feedback from station personnel has been extremely positive and we have reached the stage where, following a traumatic incident, personnel will actually request the attendance of the Occupational Health Unit directly.
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