Religion or belief is one of the protected characteristics that is defined under the Equality Act. Any discrimination based on religion or belief is unlawful and we carry out People Impact Assessments to protected our community and staff from this. For more information around our legal duties, click here.
So, how do we consider religion or belief as a protected characteristic in practice?
In our communities
As a Service, we don’t just want to work with our communities – we are part of them. We are always proud to help celebrate any and all religious festivities. These beautiful events provide us with opportunities to learn, share and listen.
The largest religious group across both Dorset and Wiltshire is Christian, followed by ‘no religion’. We are aware that there are other religious groups across our Service area and we’re always seeking to learn and listen to our community members to understand how we can best support them and promote safety advice that they can relate to and see value in.
Within our workforce
We have a Minority Ethnic Network, which meets quarterly for support and is instrumental in helping to shape and form policy. We are also proud to be members of the Asian Fire Service Association (ASFA) and other local groups such as the Dorset Race Equality Council.
With the support of these partners and a comprehensive communications plan, we raise awareness with all colleagues on how best to support religious and cultural events or celebrations, such as Ramadan.
Most of our workforce have identified that they either do not follow a religion, have not stated their belief, or are Christian. We are committed to supporting individuals from all religions and a number of our workstreams include learning from our community engagements so we can have a religiously diverse Service that everyone can identify with.