AN EMERGENCY service serving Dorset has responded after being reported to the Health & Safety Executive (HSE).

Dorset & Wiltshire Fire and Rescue Service is one of two brigades to be formally reported by the Fire Brigades Union (FBU). Several other brigades have been identified in relation to bringing in policy which would see firefighters sent into fires with their breathing equipment turned off.

The union identified 'contraventions of statutory obligations' by the Hampshire and Isle of Wight Fire and Rescue Authority and the Dorset and Wiltshire Fire and Rescue Authority.

The FBU claims the working practices which these authorities intend to implement are 'unlawful'.

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The policy change involves instructing firefighters to go beyond the point of safe air with their breathing equipment turned off in high-rise building fires, in a move which the union say breaks health and safety law. The policy had previously been struck down in London, by the fire service’s health and safety advisory panel, due to being unsafe.

In response, assistant chief fire officer Andy Cole said: "In common with other UK fire and rescue services, Dorset & Wiltshire Fire and Rescue Service have been reviewing our ways of working in relation to fires in tall buildings.

"We've been engaged in constructive discussions with the Fire Brigades Union throughout this process, and were aware they were intending to take this step, following their unsuccessful case to a High Court judge refusing permission for a judicial review in February this year.

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"We have an excellent health and safety record and any suggestion that we would put people at risk is wrong, as the safety of our crews and the public we serve will always be our priority; we do not agree with the view that this procedure puts any of our firefighters or members of the public at any increased risk.

"We're happy for the Health & Safety Executive to examine our procedures, which are shared with Hampshire and Isle of Wight FRS, and are aligned to national guidance.

"We will continue to engage with the Fire Brigades Union but will not be making any further comment until any process undertaken by the HSE has been concluded."