Carlow County Fire & Rescue Service have become the first Fire Authority in Ireland to achieve accreditation to ISO 14001 and have now become the first and only Fire Authority in the country to attain three ISO standards in 45001 Health & Safety, 9001 Quality and the recent addition of 14001 Environmental Waste Management. On Friday, May 29th 2026 this significant achievement was launched officially by Carlow County Council’s Cathaoirleach Cllr Ken Murnane, Carlow Mayor Cllr Paul Doogue, Muine Bheag Cathaoirleach Cllr Daniel Pender, Carlow Co Co DoS Padraig O’Gorman and members of Carlow County Fire & Rescue Service and Building Control Section.
Carlow County Fire & Rescue Service have developed further green initiatives following the design and build of Irelands first ECO Class Fire Appliance stationed at Carlow Town which is fuelled by HVO, has solar panels and a battery to power the vehicle while at incidents in addition to vehicle intelligence systems including digital alerts of other road users. New initiatives which contributed to achieving ISO 14001 include electrification and transition to HVO of fleet, battery powered RTC equipment and PPV fans, in addition to thermal imaging drones. All fire stations completed environmental impact assessments leading to improved bunded chemical storage, spill kits, spill kit training, signage and other building improvements such as fire station biodiversity gardens. Carlow Town fire station also has solar panels, has been insulated and transitioned from a fossil fuel burning heating system to air to water. A refurbishment of Muine Bheag fire station which is currently progressing through planning will reduce carbon emissions from 11 tonnes per annum for this building to net zero with two other fire stations being reviewed too.
A/CFO Ben Woodhouse said
I wish to acknowledge the fantastic team effort from senior management through to operational crews and our admin team to attain this significant achievement. We now have an Integrated Management System (IMS) combining ISO 9001, ISO 14001, and ISO 45001 providing Carlow County Fire & Rescue Service with a single, cohesive framework for managing quality, safety, and environmental performance. This enables clearer strategic leadership and governance, aligning operational delivery with organisational objectives and regulatory compliance. By integrating the three systems we have reduced duplication across audits, procedures, and training, resulting in greater efficiency and better use of our resources. The IMS ensures we have consistent processes and evidence demonstrating compliance and continuous improvement while also enhancing performance monitoring, providing meaningful data across quality of service to our customers and key stakeholders, safety of our staff and in parallel reducing environmental impacts through our activities. Culturally I believe it also promotes a consistent focus on safety, accountability, and professionalism across all staff while increasing public trust, political confidence, and organisational resilience.