The \u201cbeep test\u201d \u2013 a standard aerobic fitness measure used for prospective firefighters for the last 40 years \u2013 discriminates against women and advantages younger candidates, a tribunal has found, following a legal challenge by a prospective recruit.<\/p>\n
Cork<\/a> Fire Brigade has been ordered to pay \u20ac8,000 in compensation to Ter\u00e9zia Foott, a part-time firefighter aged in her 40s who failed to advance in a November 2023 recruitment competition for a full-time post because she did not make the cut.<\/p>\n Foott, a qualified sports therapist and personal trainer, said she passed every element of the fitness test on the day on November 17th, 2023. <\/p>\n She was already working with Cork County Fire and Rescue as a part-time firefighter, engine driver and mechanic, and was subject to aerobic fitness testing every three years to stay in the job.<\/p>\n The \u201cbeep test\u201d, the tribunal heard, consists of a timed shuttle run where candidates must repeatedly dash a set distance, keeping time with a recorded beep track, getting faster and faster each time until they fail to hit their mark and fall out, or complete the course.<\/p>\n Cork City\u2019s chief fire officer, David Spillet, said the beep test had been used in Cork since the 1980s.<\/p>\n \u201cThere is no separate standard for males and females; the same fitness requirements apply to all candidates to ensure they are capable, fit, and healthy for operational duties,\u201d he told the Workplace Relations Commission<\/a> (WRC). However, he said testing methods could vary from service to service.<\/p>\n The minimum score was 9.6 shuttles, which equated to oxygen consumption \u2013 VO2 max \u2013 of 42ml\/kg, the WRC was told.<\/p>\n Foott\u2019s case was that, on the day, she was held to the same standard as the man in his 20s who completed the beep test alongside her on the day.<\/p>\n [\u00a0Domestic abuse victims left waiting years for social housing after fleeing abusersOpens in new window<\/a>\u00a0]<\/p>\n Her score on the day equated to 37.4ml\/kg VO2 max, which was \u201cat the highest edge of the \u2018above average\u2019 category\u2019\u201d for aerobic performance for a 43-year-old woman.<\/p>\n She told the tribunal that she went for a VO2 max test in Dublin the week after the Cork Fire Brigade trials and registered a VO2 max of 45.2ml\/kg.<\/p>\n Foott said a different test, the Chester treadmill test, was in use in her current job. Spillet said the fire brigade used the beep test because it was \u201cpractical for group assessments\u201d.<\/p>\n The complainant\u2019s position was that the beep test was \u201ccheap and dirty\u201d as a way of assessing aerobic capacity compared with other methods.<\/p>\n She asked the fire service to let her take a retest on a gaseous exchange machine on a treadmill, but the Cork City Council<\/a> human resources officers in charge of the recruitment competition turned her down, she said.<\/p>\n Foott was told she could retake the test on another day with another fire service, an option the complainant turned down, the tribunal heard.<\/p>\n