Emergency services / Health and safety report on fire stations a ‘damning indictment’
However community safety and resilience board chairman councillor Allison Duncan says local employees are ‘exonerated’
ALLEGED health and safety breaches at three local stations are a “damning indictment” on Scottish fire bosses as well as the government, according to the Shetland community safety and resilience board chairman.
Councillor Allison Duncan instead put the blame on central management as well as the Scottish Government, which funds the country’s fire service, and said local staff were “exonerated” from any share of criticism.
The HSE said the SFRS has failed to provide adequate facilities at these stations in “that there are no fixed toilets, rest facilities, showers or changing areas at any of the facilities”.
The HSE also said there is no running water at the Walls station and no portaloo at the one in Hillswick.
A spokesperson for the SFRS said last week that the service “continues to work through an action plan with stakeholders and partners across Shetland to address these concerns”.
This week the SFRS’ head of service delivery for the north Stephen Wood said the “safety of our staff is paramount”.
He added that the service is considering several options, such as arrangements for staff to use welfare facilities at alternative locations after a call-out.
Meanwhile the Scottish Government’s safety minister Siobhian Brown welcomed the SFRS’ commitment to address the concerns – adding that the service has been given increased year-on-year funding.
The lack of facilities at the three stations in Bressay, Walls and Bixter has regularly been raised by councillor Duncan, who last year had threatened to raise the matter with the HSE if no action was taken.
Speaking to Shetland News this week after the HSE letter was made public, Duncan reiterated that he placed no blame on local staff.
“I want to exonerate all Shetland fire service employees of the Scottish Fire and Rescue Service and I’m only going to speak for Shetland only,” he said.
“This improvement notice is a serious and damning indictment on the Scottish Fire and Rescue Service and the Scottish Government.
“This failure arises with decades of underfunding by the Scottish Fire and Rescue Service and Scottish Government before and after the amalgamation of the Scottish Fire and Rescue Service right up to the present day.
“I will continue to monitor and scrutinise the outstanding issues in the improvement notice through our board and make sure they are progressed in all the stations in Shetland, in the health and wellbeing of all the brave firefighters in Shetland.”
Duncan said he would report issues to the HSE again if necessary.
He also thanked the Fire Brigade Union for their two officers visiting Shetland and taking the matter to the HSE.
Duncan suggested the HSE notice went further than he had perhaps expected – given that his own focus initially had been on toilet and shower facilities.
“The report came out very clearly that there were other issues that they took into consideration, and that has to be resolved,” he added.
The community safety and resilience board chairman said he hoped the outcome would be improvement in all stations in Shetland, if needed, for the “welfare of all our firefighters here”.
Duncan said he is still “very concerned” regarding shower facilities across the wider network of stations in Shetland.
He noted there has been serious fires in Shetland in recent years from Fair Isle and Foula to Walls and Unst.
“From those situations it’s quite clear that improvements should be made in all fire stations in Shetland,” Duncan said.
“For example at the spaceport centre in Unst, which is being built at this present time, there was a serious explosion and fire.
“The Unst fire fighters were called to the scene and now they don’t have shower facilities to go back to. Unst also has a care home for the elderly.
“They can look at Whalsay – they have a care home and at the pier there could be up to four or five purse netters costing millions of pounds, and if the fire fighters of Whalsay were called, again they have no shower facilities.
“That are two major examples and I would like to see that progressed with some urgency.”
The issue of a lack of shower facilities at Shetland’s fire stations has reared its head at a time when research into the illnesses being contracted by firefighters across the country is making for uncomfortable reading.
Firefighters are 1.6 times more likely to die of cancer than the general public, the University of Central Lancashire found in 2023.
And it found firefighters were also developing cancer at much higher rates at younger ages than average.
The SFRS’ head of service delivery for the north deputy assistant chief officer Stephen Wood said this week in response to the HSE situation:
“The safety of our staff is paramount, and we are working closely with the FBU, elected representatives and the wider community to address the concerns raised in the Health and Safety Executive notices regarding our stations in Bressay, Hillswick and Walls.
“We are considering several options to ensure our staff have access to the most appropriate sites when responding to emergency calls, or in undertaking essential non-emergency work such as training and community engagement.
“This includes arrangements for staff to use welfare facilities at alternative locations post-incident and we have provided additional cleaning and laundry provisions at our sites in Lerwick and Brae.
“We continue to develop and invest in enhanced provisions for contaminant control across our network of fire stations, both on Shetland and across Scotland, and this will remain a key priority.
“As a service we have been very clear about the challenges we face with our ageing estate across Scotland and the significant investment required to address this.
“We continue to take a risk-based approach to modernising and repairing our network of buildings, fleet, and equipment.”
The Scottish Government’s safety minister Siobhian Brown said: “Firefighters do a vital job in keeping communities safe and I expect adequate facilities to be provided for them.
“I welcome the Scottish Fire and Rescue Service’s commitment to addressing the concerns raised by the Health and Safety Executive.
“The Scottish Government has substantially increased funding for SFRS year on year since 2017-18.
“The budget for 2025-26, if passed by parliament, includes £412.1 million for SFRS. This includes capital funding of £47 million – an increase of £4 million – which will allow SFRS to continue to invest in better facilities for firefighters, property, fleet and equipment.
“Operational decisions on the allocation of resources are a matter for the SFRS board and chief officer.”
Duncan meanwhile also highlighted how he is trying to visit as many fire stations as possible in Shetland as chair of the community safety and resilience board.
One recent visit was to the station in Yell, which he has given a “five star rating”.
He also hailed positive news that two new firefighters have been recruited for Yell.
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