Dorset and Wiltshire Fire and Rescue Service has been reported to the Health & Safety Executive (HSE).

It is one of two fire brigades to be formally reported to the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) by the Fire Brigades Union (FBU).

Several other fire and rescue services have been identified in relation to bringing in policy which would see firefighters sent into fires with their breathing equipment turned off.

In a letter first published today (July 6), the union identified, 'contraventions of statutory obligations' by the Hampshire and Isle of Wight Fire and Rescue Authority and the Dorset and Wiltshire Fire and Rescue Authority.

The FBU argue that the working practices which these authorities intend to implement are 'unlawful'.

The policy change involves instructing firefighters to go beyond the point of safe air with their breathing equipment turned off in high-rise building fires, in a move which the union say breaks health and safety law. The policy had previously been struck down in London, by the fire service’s health and safety advisory panel, due to being unsafe.

The letter calls for the HSE to 'investigate our complaint and use its statutory powers to bring an end' to the policy Dorset & Wiltshire fire and rescue services has brought in the change.

Riccardo la Torre, Fire Brigades Union national officer, said: "This procedure is unsafe, unlawful and unprofessional, and puts firefighters and the public at greater risk.

"It tears up half a century of health and safety law, best practice guidance, manufacturers’ instructions, and firefighter training.

"It will not make living and working in high rise buildings safer or tackle the wider crisis in building safety. It simply puts firefighters and residents at greater risk.

"Those chiefs imposing this policy have worked harder to take the breathing masks off of firefighters’ faces than they have to get flammable cladding off of people’s homes.

"It is scarcely believable that the recent fire and rescue white paper appears to propose giving fire and rescue chiefs more power over decisions such as these, and reducing workers’ voices.

"Some fire and rescue chiefs simply cannot be trusted to get vital decisions like these right.

"The policy aims to push firefighters beyond the duration of a breathing set, let’s be clear that means placing firefighters beyond the point of rescue if they become injured or trapped.

"Fire Bosses would do well to remember that the safety procedures they are ripping up exist for a reason, they were borne from the death and injury of firefighters.

"The NFCC and local fire services need to do the right thing and turn their backs on this policy.

"Following the IARC categorisation of the profession as class 1 carcinogenic, the highest level of certainty, it’s nothing less than scandalous that the NFCC continue with attempts to remove the very PPE that helps protect firefighters from that risk. Firefighters aren’t cannon fodder and don't deserve to be treated as such”

Assistant Chief Fire Officer Andy Cole said: “In common with other UK Fire and Rescue Services, Dorset & Wiltshire Fire and Rescue Service have been reviewing our ways of working in relation to fires in tall buildings.

"We have been engaged in constructive discussions with the Fire Brigades Union throughout this process, and were aware they were intending to take this step, following their unsuccessful case to a High Court judge refusing permission for a judicial review in February this year.

“We have an excellent Health & Safety record and any suggestion that we would put people at risk is wrong, as the safety of our crews and the public we serve will always be our priority; we do not agree with the view that this procedure puts any of our firefighters or members of the public at any increased risk.

"We are happy for the Health & Safety Executive to examine our procedures, which are shared with Hampshire and Isle of Wight FRS, and are aligned to national guidance. We will continue to engage with the Fire Brigades Union but will not be making any further comment until any process undertaken by the HSE has been concluded.”