NFCC releases three new EDI toolkits

As part of the NFCC’s commitment to support fire and rescue services in embedding equality, diversity and inclusion (EDI) across the fire sector, the People, Culture, and Leadership Programme has developed a series of EDI Toolkits to sit alongside an existing suite of resources in the EDI Hub.

The toolkits are some of the products that represent the delivery of the NFCC Culture Action Plan and are underpinned by key strategic objectives outlined in the Fit for the Future sector report, including:

• Focussing on training and development to maintain, support and improve the skills and knowledge of colleagues across the sector.
• Attracting prospective employees from a wide range of backgrounds to fire and rescue services due to our inclusive practices.
• Demonstrating an inclusive culture by providing a welcoming and supportive place to work, enabling us to retain a wide variety of people from all backgrounds, throughout their career.
• Supporting leaders and managers to work together to deliver strong, inclusive leadership across all fire and rescue services.

The first toolkit covers challenges faced by and ways to support Disabled colleagues, and the second looks at how we can be more aware of the menopause, creating work environments that allow people to thrive during that journey. The third toolkit looks at Religion and belief in the workplace, and is an update to the Religion and Belief Toolkit produced by Asian Fire Service Associations (AFSA).

The toolkits provide information and practical guidance that begin to remove the barriers that keep people from thriving in the workplace and can help create an inclusive and accessible working environment, enabling employees to reach their full potential.

In producing these toolkits, NFCC aims to:

• Provide an accessible set of resources to advance learning and increase knowledge and awareness.
• Facilitate better understanding of the needs of a diverse workforce.
• Support services as they deliver culturally sensitive and responsive service, enhancing public safety and satisfaction.
• Recognise the sector’s increasingly diverse workforce, and reinforce a culture of inclusivity and respect.
• Contribute to a sense of belonging and mutual respect among fire service personnel, leading to higher levels of morale, motivation, and job satisfaction, which could result in higher retention rates of staff.
• Support the sector in providing a consistent, structured approach to embedding EDI and fostering a positive culture.

NFCC EDI Lead Kathryn Billing said, “We are grateful for the support of experts in the sector who contributed to the development of these toolkits, and to everyone who responded to the consultations that helped us refine and expand them. I encourage everyone at every level in the fire and rescue service to use the toolkits and the whole suite of EDI resources to embed the values of inclusion and equality in their service. We recognise now more than ever culture change must happen and happen at pace and these tools identify good practice to support this transformation.”