Personal Protective Equipment

This Annual Conference is appalled that many Fire & Rescue Services (FRS) have adopted a “one size fits all policy” in regard to the provision of some items of personal protective equipment (PPE). Women members are often excluded from specific workplace activity such as water rescue and chemical incidents due to the PPE provided being too big for them to wear safely. This situation is unacceptable and therefore Conference demands that the Executive Council: ● Urgently seek to rectify this negative situation affecting our women members by raising this issue at the National Joint Council as well as any other relevant national forums. ● Mount a campaign in Firefighter and any other written form, to highlight and encourage our members to report ill fitting PPE as a near miss. ● Set up a data base to monitor and assess the situation within each Fire and Rescue Service. Conference further instructs the Executive Council to report back any progress made to the National Womenʼs Committee within 6 months of Annual Conference 2009