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Latest Incidents

11th February, 2024 - 12.57pm: We were called to the M4 westbound between J15 and J16 for a car well ...Read more

10th February, 2024 - 2.23pm: We were called to assist two people who were stuck about 10m above the...Read more

8th February, 2024 - 1.59pm: A large quantity of food grade golden syrup was spilled on the road. T...Read more

6th February, 2024 - 09.16: Fire crews from Stratton St Margaret and Swindon were called to a dome...Read more

5th February, 2024 - 5.33pm: A crew from Dorchester were called to Dick O' Th' Banks Road following...Read more

3rd February, 2024 - 10.02pm: Six fire crews attended, from Sherborne (x2), Yeovil (x2), Wincanton a...Read more

Information for employers

Many on-call firefighters are in full time employment with local employers who are keen to support their community. They are just like any other employee, other than they may be on stand-by for some of their working hours. This means that they could be called out at any time of the day or night to protect local people.

Anyone wanting to become an on-call firefighter will need to get an agreement signed by their employer, even if they’re not intending to respond to incidents from work. This is because there can still be an impact on the employer, for example if the firefighter is called out in the night and hasn’t had any sleep.

Could you release an employee to become an on-call firefighter?

We know that releasing an employee to become an on-call firefighter is an important decision. It couldn’t happen without your agreement and you need to know how it would work for you so you can make an informed decision and feel confident about supporting your community in this way.

It may be the case that, as an employer, you have sufficient flexibility to enable staff to be released to attend emergency incidents when required. However, we do realise that some employers don’t have the capacity to commit to consistent hours for release of their staff. We would be happy to discuss the options available to support on-call firefighters in your employment; for example, flexibility to enable on-call firefighters to attend scheduled training.

Bringing you value

On-call firefighters are highly trained professionals who can bring added value to your organisation, at no cost to you. They gain many useful transferable skills which can be useful in any workplace. These can include:

Businesses have found that the benefits offered by allowing their staff to be on-call far outweigh any inconvenience caused by their employee responding to an emergency.

Because on-call firefighters aren’t based at fire stations but operate on standby, they’re only called out when needed. They are first and foremost your staff member, but are available on-call, to help and protect the local community when needed.

There are a range of businesses, both small and large, across the UK who currently release employees to be on-call firefighters. These include Sainsburys, Tesco, Royal Mail, schools, farms, small businesses such as accountancy and solicitors, as well county, district and town councils.

By allowing one of your employees to become an on-call firefighter, you’ll be making a difference every time they respond to an emergency, helping to save lives and protecting people in your community.

Click here for frequently asked questions – if you require any further information, contact us via [email protected]

 

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