He's banned the word fireman and that's just the beginning. Fire chief's 'different kind of leadership'
He knows how tough the job can be. But taking charge of a beleagured Greater Manchester Fire and Rescue Service has tested his own resilence to the limit.
On that day, Russel's close friend and trusted colleague, Steve Morgan, who had followed him from the Lancashire service to Greater Manchester to become an assistant county fire officer, took his own life, aged 49. He had shed the albatross of being the chief's son and carved his own impressive path to become deputy chief there. Working in the ethnically diverse town of Blackburn for a large part of service influenced his values. He was also incident commander at the Winter Hill moorland fire in 2018.
He became chief on September 7, 2020 during COVID, and added: "It was a service, which at the time, had a number of long shadows that continue to be cast over it - two hours eight minutes to respond to a bomb in central Manchester; the fact that duty systems were being proposed that would effectively make firefighters redundant; firefighters that did not feel valued; and huge levels of mistrust within the organisation.
The upshot of such a stance has been a zero tolerance of inappropriate behaviour, whether by rank and file staff or members of the command team. Twelve cases of alleged gross misconduct are currently being investigated by the service - of which six are for alleged sexual misconduct. Five firefighters were sacked from one station for alleged racist comments made on a watch WhatsApp group.
"In many respects there were elements in this organisation three years ago where I genuinely felt I was stepping back in time," he says. "The internal fabric of buildings was tired, staid, dated, and don't reflect the ambition of what I and Greater Manchester people should expect." His vision shows signs of becoming a reality. Ofsted recently marked the service's apprenticeship programme as 'Outstanding' for values and behaviour. He does not want to keep "any surprises" from the Fire Brigades Union, and was wisely silent during the recently settled pay dispute.
"What was clear to me on joining, bearing in mind it was three years after the attack, is the pain that staff felt and still feel today at not being able to respond and help and treat people. I think it also drove a them and us culture as well between management and the frontline. But he believes it is not only kit which is up to scratch, but the service's mindset. "Importantly dealing with emergencies is not black and white. Increasingly firefighters and officers have to work within the grey area. I am absolutely confident it would not happen again - my firefighters are going to go in no matter what."
"My priority from day one has been the culture of the organisation - creating one which is much more welcoming, respectful, and values staff. I have been clear any form of discrimination, bullying and harassment - there's no place for it in this service. If we have behaviour and attitudes that are diametrically opposed to our values then I am of the view, and I make no apologies for it, that there is no place for those individuals in the organisation.
"I kind of wonder if I've failed him in some point in coming to Manchester. This is a tough environment to work in, there's no doubt about that. I have personally invested massively in the service and have an unrelenting commitment to hand over GMFRS in a better condition than I found it.
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