Religious and Philosophical Belief

We acknowledge that people can face discrimination because of attitudes in society towards the faith communities to which they belong. Faith-based hate crime has been a new phenomenon in recent years.

A person’s beliefs can also mean that they have different needs, demands and expectations, which may require flexibility in the way we provide our service. Therefore it is very important that we develop our understanding and awareness of what these needs are and how they can be met. This requires us to adopt a variety of different approaches to the way we deliver our services.

We are continually developing our operational expertise in understanding the impact of assisting people with different needs .in emergency situations. This includes improvement in our operational procedures to respect the observance of people of faith.

We have also been working with many different members of our community to help them prevent emergencies and to deal more effectively with situations when they happen. Our work with spiritual leaders and religious organisations across the county has been of enormous benefit to our staff in understanding the customs and practices of people they meet or work with in the community

We encourage people of all religions to come and work for us and recognise that people have specific religious and cultural needs at work. We have “quiet rooms” on fire stations for prayer and meditation and have set out arrangements for the observance of prayer, religious leave, cultural or religious expression through dress, fasting and specific food requirements

Chapter 14: Religious and Philosophical Belief|