Essex County Fire and Rescue Service wins Champion of Equality and Diversity award

Essex County Fire and Rescue Service has won an award for its work towards championing equality and diversity.

Colette Black, Director for People Service for ECFRS won Champion for Equality and Diversity at the Asian Fire Service Association Awards on Wednesday 13 November, 2024.

The Service was also nominated for collaboration project between the East of England Ambulance Service, Bedfordshire Fire and Rescue Service and Cambridgeshire Fire and Rescue Service.

Colette has been instrumental in removing barriers and enhancing engagement for employees at ECFRS and across all UK fire and rescue services.

At the AFSA summer conference in July 2024, Colette presented research focused on promoting positive action to increase the number of female firefighters and examined how perceptions of psychological safety, affected by issues like misogyny and bullying, influence women's decisions to apply for roles. Her findings led to several impactful recommendations for UK Fire and Rescue Services, earning her recognition through various presentations on culture and inclusion.

As the NFCC Lead for Culture Dashboards, Colette developed a national methodology to help services monitor their culture and inclusion measures, fostering safe and welcoming workplaces.

Colette introduced mandatory Inclusive Behaviours training for all employees and her leadership in People Management and Leadership Development programmes that promote an inclusive culture within the Service.

This year, ECFRS achieved Silver accreditation in the Inclusive Employers Standard, becoming the first fire and rescue service to receive this recognition.

Colette said: “I'm truly grateful for this award, which feels like a wonderful moment to pause, reflect and celebrate our achievements. I am particularly proud of the work on psychological safety and culture. An award is, of course, rarely about an individual but rather about a collective effort.

“We remain committed to promoting equality, diversity, and inclusion in our Service. Our progress is a 'one team' effort that everybody contributes to, driven by our shared vision of a positive, kind, high-performing service focused on delivering excellence. I’m confident we’ll continue developing all our services—both internal and external—to be genuinely inclusive by design.”