Study reveals firefighter views

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Almost a quarter of Scotland's fire and rescue workers are dissatisfied with their job, a new report has said.

The study, the first of its kind, was commissioned by all eight of Scotland's fire brigades in 2005.

More than 3,400 of the 8,073 employees answered questionnaires in a survey focusing on fairness in the workplace.

It said that 10% of fire and rescue employees intended to leave the service in the next five years because of dissatisfaction with their jobs.

Treated fairly

More than a third (34%) thought fair and equal access to promotion was not available to everyone, while 42% felt it was.

Most respondents (84%) generally felt valued by their own teams.

However, only 33% felt valued by their fire service and 27% felt valued by senior management.

Almost two thirds (64%) agreed that they were treated fairly at work with 18% disagreeing.

In the past three years 27% of employees thought they had been unfairly denied access to training because of their roles, ranks, grades or because they did not have the right contacts.

In the equality and diversity category, 66% believed it was easier for minority groups to get a job in the service.

The review and its findings are just the beginning of what is obviously a considerable challenge to address cultural and organisational issues Jeff OrdHM Chief Inspector of Fire Services for Scotland

More than a third (36%) said that under-representation of minority ethnic groups as firefighters should be addressed.

And 31% of employees reported that they had witnessed harassment or discrimination in the last three years, and as many as 22% reported they had personally experienced this.

Of those who reported cases, 60% felt that they were dealt with ineffectively while 23% believed they were dealt with effectively.

An overwhelming majority, 87%, accepted that it was their responsibility, along with other employees, to promote equality and diversity policies effectively in the fire service.

Jeff Ord, HM Chief Inspector of Fire Services for Scotland, said: "Scotland has taken the lead in undertaking this review and, it has to be said, at a particularly difficult time given that there was a period of almost three years of industrial unrest immediately prior to this review.

"The review and its findings are just the beginning of what is obviously a considerable challenge to address cultural and organisational issues."