Amsterdam fire brigade in trouble due to absenteeism: flex workers and volunteers deployed | Amsterdam
NewsThe Amsterdam fire brigade is struggling with a high absenteeism due to illness. Volunteers and external flex workers must solve the shortages this summer. The ‘rotten’ culture remains one of the main causes of the many sick.
It is passenger and measure with the fire brigade to fill the rooster in the summer. Many firefighters are sick at home and because everyone is entitled to a holiday in the summer, it is not possible with regular personnel to get enough people to the barracks – and to have them pulled out in the event of fire or other calamities.
Absenteeism in the fire service has skyrocketed since 2016. The then fire chief Leen Schaap is trying hard and long-term measures torotten culture‘from’ racism, sexism and abuse of power within the Corps. Many firefighters resisted the new strict rules and possible budget cuts and ended up sitting at home.
In 2019, former army officer Tijs van Lieshout sounds like a new commander† He wanted to modernize the organization, make it more flexible and restore trust between the fire service and the corps. Three years later, the question is to what extent this has been successful. Absenteeism due to illness has not decreased since his appointment, as Van Lieshout acknowledged last January, when it was 17 percent. By comparison, rural areas were around 5 percent; over 12 percent.
Is the city safe?
To solve the shortages in the summer, the Amsterdam-Amstelland fire brigade various measures. Efforts are made, external firefighters are hired and office staff with the correct papers enter the barracks. This goes against the Working Hours Act, but may be deviated from for a short period of time, provided there are ‘good reasons’. According to the words of the fire service, this concerns an ‘exceedance that is as limited as possible’.
The measures will apply from July 16 to August 28 and will cost the fire service a maximum of 140,000 euros.
With the deployment of many unfettered firefighters, the question is whether the safety of the city is guaranteed. The flex workers will be less attuned to each other and if they also drop out, there is a chance that barracks will remain empty. According to a saying, there is talk of: all will remain in service these coming ‘just’.
Another emergency measure is also being investigated: fewer staff at Anton, the barracks in the Bijlmer. Instead of eight people on a fire extinguisher and ladder truck, the fire service wants to see if it is possible to drive with six people in the event of personnel shortages. However, according to the report, this won’t happen this summer – it’s just an investigation.
suicides
Van Lieshout says that the Amsterdam aid programs have been set up to prevent absenteeism and to recover from situations with mental problems. The fire service is also training more personnel to permanently eliminate the shortages. That is twelve people per six months. The new growth must ensure a cultural change, and also ensure that bullying, sexism and racism no longer exist.
Chances are that many firefighters sitting at home who were part of that ‘old culture’ are no longer at the barracks. A quarter of home sitters suffer from post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD). Often these are men in their 40s and 50s who did not receive psychological help during their career because of the suffering they saw – think of children who have to be resuscitated and sometimes also die.
PTSD in combination with the toxic culture in Amsterdam has partly led to several cases of suicide in the fire service: Five men committed suicide in the past ten years. In Rotterdam there were two and in The Hague one. Van Lieshout said in May that he cannot guarantee that this negative trend will reverse any time soon. “A suicide could happen tomorrow. And the day after tomorrow.”
Are you thinking about suicide or worried about someone? Talking about suicidal thoughts helps and can be done anonymously, call 113 or 0800-0113 or to chat through 113.nl†
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