Allegation of bullying at Invercargill Fire Station

Thursday, 22 October 2020

Fire and Emergency New Zealand chief executive Rhys Jones says the organisation is looking into allegations of bullying at the Invercargill Fire Station as a matter of urgency.

WorkSafe has received a complaint relating to alleged bullying at the Invercargill Fire Station.

A WorkSafe spokeswoman said the organisation was making initial inquiries to establish what its next steps might be.

She was unable to provide further information at this stage.

Stuff understands the allegation is that a firefighter has bullied other staff at the station over a period of time.

Fire and Emergency New Zealand chief executive Rhys Jones said the organisation was looking into the issues raised as a matter of urgency.

* WorkSafe under fire for not prosecuting bullying and harassment cases

* Editorial: If Fire Service bullies can't stand the heat …

* Fire and Emergency New Zealand staff bullied, harassed - report

Invercargill Fire Station and St John Ambulance Centre.

He couldn’t discuss the matter as it would be a breach of privacy and confidentiality, he said.

But if Fire and Emergency was approached by WorkSafe regarding the investigation of a specific matter, it would co-operate fully.

Jones said the safety, health and wellbeing of its people was of paramount importance to the organisation.

“Unacceptable behaviour of any kind will not be tolerated at Fire and Emergency New Zealand and complaints about such behaviour are taken very seriously.”

The organisation commissioned an independent review in 2018, a year after Fire and Emergency NZ was established.

In 2019 the review found that while the vast majority of its people acted ethically and respectfully, unwanted behaviour had been a feature at all levels of the organisation.

“Changing culture won’t happen overnight but we have a clear direction for what needs to be done,” Jones said.

“We are making progress to improve our organisation’s culture and to address the review’s recommendations to stamp out unwanted behaviour and build a respectful and inclusive organisation.”

Fire and Emergency was embedding a new code of behaviour and a policy to address bullying, harassment and victimisation. These would sit alongside its standards of conduct, which outlined how it expected people to behave and better equipped the organisation to address unwanted behaviour earlier.

“Now these are in place, we are in a position to be able to deal more effectively with those who step over the line,” Jones said.

The WorkSafe website describes workplace bullying as repeated and unreasonable behaviour directed towards a worker or group of workers that could lead to physical or psychological harm.

Unreasonable behaviour means actions that a reasonable person in the same circumstances would see as unreasonable, and includes victimising, humiliating, intimidating or threatening a person.

Bullying could also include harassment, discrimination or violence, the WorkSafe website says.

However, workplace bullying is not one-off or occasional instances of forgetfulness, rudeness or tactlessness, the website adds.