The head of the London Fire Brigade (LFB) has vowed to sack firefighters who bullied colleagues or have been racist, misogynistic or homophobic as he vowed to take a zero tolerance method.
Commissioner Andy Roe’s feedback come after a damning impartial report revealed the “toxic culture” within the LFB, with accounts starting from girls being groped throughout coaching workouts to individuals having their helmets full of urine.
The report, which makes 23 suggestions, relies on the experiences of two,000 workers members and located the LFB was “institutionally misogynist and racist”.
Mr Roe instructed Sky News he was “horrified”, “heartbroken” and “very disappointed” by the findings, describing the behaviour as “inexcusable”.
He added: “The change has to begin now. We would be the first service within the nation to introduce body-worn cameras for our personal workers security and to reassure the general public.
“We will be conducting a historic five-year case review and where we find people have not met the standards of behaviour we clearly expect in a zero tolerance culture to this stuff, we will dismiss them.”
Mr Roe apologised to Londoners and the “2,000 people who raised their voice”.
Read extra: ‘Toxic tradition’ of London Fire Brigade revealed – with abuse disguised as ‘banter’
The evaluation concluded the capital’s fireplace service has “dangerous levels of ingrained prejudice against women”.
They needed to run a every day gauntlet of sexist abuse – with many routinely known as “woman” or “front bottom” by colleagues.
Other girls have been even punched and attacked, the report discovered.
Some males had explicitly mentioned they didn’t need girls on their watch and there have been a number of accounts of girls being subjected to undesirable sexual consideration.
‘Mock noose above locker’
The report additionally revealed different incidents resembling a black firefighter who was topic to racist bullying which culminated in somebody placing a mock noose above his locker.
And the evaluation referred to a Muslim firefighter, bullied due to his religion, who had bacon put in his sandwich by his colleagues.
‘I count on to dismiss individuals’
A feminine firefighter instructed the evaluation that the edge for bullying is so excessive “you would have to gouge someone’s eyes out to get sacked”, including: “Everything else is seen as banter.”
But London Fire Commissioner Mr Roe instructed a briefing at LFB headquarters: “We are going to take a zero tolerance approach to bullying and harassment and discrimination.
“What which means, if we take into consideration the speedy steps, is that I count on to dismiss individuals because of this report.”
Asked how many could lose their jobs, he added: “If we discover that you’ve behaved in a method that’s highlighted on this report, there’s not a spot for you within the London Fire Brigade. In a method the numbers do not matter to me.”
The evaluation was led by Nazir Afzal, a former chief crown prosecutor for the North West.
He mentioned: “My review found evidence that supports a finding that LFB is institutionally misogynist and racist.”
The report was established in response to the demise of firefighter Jaden Francois-Esprit, who took his personal life in August 2020.
His household have been involved that he had been bullied due to his race, the report mentioned.
Source: information.sky.com”