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Undertaking fire safety training is a responsible task for somebody to take on. So if you have been appointed in your organisation to undertake fire safety training, whether that is a basic fire safety awareness course, or a more in-depth course where you are training to be a fire warden or marshal, you may have some questions about the training itself. Luckily for you, we’ve put together our very own fire safety training FAQs blog, with a huge range questions covering some topics you may be wondering about.

Conclusion

Thank you for reading out fire safety training FAQs blog! We hope you’re now more clear on our fire safety training and what you can expect. To make sure you have the relevant fire safety training, you can review the training we have on offer:

• Face-to-Face Fire Training Courses
• Online Fire Training Courses

Have a question we haven’t answered here? You can get in touch with our friendly customer service team by calling us on 01327 552160, email us at hello@smarthorizons.co.uk, or use the live chat feature on this website to speak to us during office hours. 

The post Fire Safety Training FAQs – Your Questions Answered appeared first on Fire Training Company.

Do I Need Fire Safety Training to run a business?

When it comes to fire safety training, companies are required to know what to do in the event of an emergency. It doesn’t matter when your business is and isn’t open —you still need to take responsibility to ensure that you and your staff are adequately trained.

Fire safety is incredibly important. In 2019/20, the fire and rescue service attended 557,299 incidents in England.

Every year, hundreds of individuals die from fire-related incidents in the United Kingdom, and many of these deaths could be preventable if effective measures were put into place across all businesses and domestic environments.

As such, it is a legal duty for businesses to carry out frequent fire risk assessments and for staff and business owners to complete regular fire safety training.

What is Fire Safety Training?

As well as being a legal requirement for businesses, fire safety training is an essential feature of continuous professional development for many business owners and kitchen staff all across the United Kingdom. If you haven’t taken a fire safety training course already, why not start training today with one of our accredited online courses?

We all know that fire is incredibly dangerous and that there are steps we need to take in order to prevent fires from starting, but a fire safety training course will teach you exactly how different types of fire begin and specifically what you need to do in your workplace to reduce the risk of combustion.

Fire safety training courses can be completed online or in person, but whichever option you choose, it’s important to remember that your certificate must be refreshed on a regular basis. Here at the Fire Training Company, we specialise in delivering high quality training that fulfils the requirements of The Regulatory Reform (Fire Safety) Order 2005/Fire (Scotland) Act 2005 and is fully accredited by the Institution of Fire Engineers.

Online training

If you prefer to learn online, or if you’d rather not close the business to attend a fire safety training course, we have the ideal solution in our suite of accredited online training courses. With the option to learn at your own pace, pause and restart the course as many times as necessary, and with the certificate available to download and print immediately upon successful completion of the course, online fire safety training is the most time-saving, cost-effective method of achieving your certificate and meeting your legal training requirements.

We make it easy for businesses with more than 1 employee to set up an organisation account on our unique online learning management system, where you can easily track all staff training in one central online location. Add and remove staff easily from your records and easily evidence your staff training to an inspector at the simple touch of a button. Alternatively, if you work alone, it’s just as easy to set up an individual account and start fire safety training with us today.

Face-to-face training

Our face-to-face courses are delivered by experienced ex-services personnel who will teach you everything you need to know in order to meet your legal training requirements while giving you a unique insight into fire safety. With the option to try extinguishing a fire for real (depending on if your premises will allow for this exercise) and with an additional free online training assessment per person (that also enables you to access the online course content to refresh your knowledge at any time), our face-to-face courses are an excellent choice for businesses that want to teach up to 20 staff at one time.

We can arrange fire safety training throughout the United Kingdom, covering all major cities including Birmingham and London. To find out if we cover training in your area, please click here now to view our map of available training centres.

The Importance of Good Training

A high-quality fire safety or marshal/warden training course should provide the background needed to proactively perform the duties that will be part of the role. These duties will vary depending on your circumstances, but they will almost certainly involve key prevention tasks such as checking fire equipment and escape routes.

The Responsible Person for the business should be aware of this and ensure that there are enough Fire Marshals to deal with an emergency and ensure the fire procedures work. No matter how good the fire procedures are in an emergency though, nothing will ever be a better way of fighting fires than preventing them in the first place. A trained and active Fire Marshal is not just there to tick a box on the fire safety plan, they are there to reduce the possibility of fire.

Will I Be Inspected on Fire Safety?

If you run a business, you have a legal duty to ensure that adequate training has been given to all staff and that effective measures have been put into place to prevent accidents from occurring on your premises—yes, even if your premises is on wheels!

It is highly likely that you will be inspected on your fire safety training alongside your food hygiene training, so be wise and prepare for when an inspector calls by starting training with one of our accredited courses today.

For more information or to ask a question about fire safety training, you can get in touch with our friendly customer support team anytime by calling us on 01327 552160 or by using the live chat feature available on this website during office hours.

The post Why is Fire Safety Training Important? appeared first on Fire Training Company.

The law is very clear about fire safety for employees and it states that suitable measures must be in place to ensure that staff are appropriately informed of the fire procedures. Sensibly then, a suitably informed team is achieved most easily by providing fire safety training in the workplace (to an appropriate level) and recording what was done to ensure the team were fully aware of the fire procedures, so that you can evidence it.

Fire Safety training for staff in the workplace

For the employer, fire safety training for employees is something that must be done. However, we often come across employers that see it as a ‘necessary evil’. Yes, it has a cost in terms of both a financial outlay (although this is often less than people think) and it takes up time for employees to be away from their jobs, although an online option is available which makes this less of a problem. However, if you do not consider the benefits fully, it is no wonder that training employees in fire safety is sometimes seen as a hoop you need to jump through to meet the requirements of the law.

Fire Safety Tips in the Workplace

• Within any business someone will be the ‘Responsible Person’ and this is usually one of the directors or owner. When it says ‘responsible’ it means exactly that and they are accountable should there be an incident involving fire safety. If there were to be a fire, then the responsible person would probably need to demonstrate due diligence and that would be hard to do with incomplete training records or inadequately trained staff. The more that you can show you have taken appropriate precautions the better.

• The cost of a fire is catastrophic for most businesses. When a business suffers a fire related incident it can mean financial ruin. The insurance may well pay out but the down time, the logistics of replacing valuable equipment, the need to rebuild, repair or just re-decorate and many other factors can potentially cause closure. A trained person is far more likely to respond quickly and appropriately to an incident and not only that but, as the next section discusses, be your best defence against a potential fire.

• When you train your team in fire safety in the workplace you will probably need additional training for some of them to become designated Fire Marshals. There is nothing to stop you training more of your team as Fire Marshals though and the better people are trained, the more proactive they become. This could cost a lot less than you think and in some cases even exactly the same as training the lower level. There are two very real benefits to having more Fire Marshals trained level people than you need.

• You are never short of Fire Marshals regardless of the circumstances. While you will still need to have designated Marshals you will also have enough trained people to cover as needed.

• Most importantly you will increase the level of proactive fire prevention in your whole team. When you have a culture of fire prevention in the employees, they will develop ownership of the needs of fire safety. Our trainers are on site 5 days a week in various business from nursery schools to major industrial sites and they regularly see infringements of fire safety rules such as cluttered exits and out of place safety equipment. It is hardly surprising in a busy workplace that these things happen but it is quite a scary thought that nobody had solved the problem. A proactive, well trained, team may just be the difference between a fire starting and it being prevented in the first place.

Well trained staff have higher job satisfaction than untrained ones and that leads to better retention. Ask any human resources professional and they will tell you that training really does make employees feel valued, and that generates loyalty and job satisfaction. Training is also something that contributes to a positive employee culture which is known to increase performance.

Fire safety training for your staff

Whatever you decide about fire safety training for employees, you must act on it, ensure it is in place and that all your team are trained. So rather than look on it as a necessary evil to be completed, why not look at it from the point of view of the potential benefits to the business?

Fire safety training for your employees, particularly fire marshal training, not only means they will react better if there is a fire, but they may well prevent one in the first place.

We’re still here for you and happy to help through all of this!

Our team are here for you and are happy to answer any questions you might have about fire training for your business.

Our working hours are Monday to Friday, 9am to 5.30pm, and you can give us a call during these hours on 01327 552160.

Please click here for more information or to browse our range of IFE accredited fire training courses.

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So it is vital that you ensure you make time to get the fire safety training you need to understand the fire regulations and how they apply to your circumstances. There are online fire training courses, as well as face to face fire training courses available to meet your needs and requirements.

Do I really need to have Fire Training?

The simple answer is yes. As an example, if you’re working in a mobile catering businesses, you tend to operate in small, cramped environments where the temperatures can rise quickly. With multiple people working in the same small kitchen, often under pressure from long queues of customers waiting on their orders and all sharing the heat from the constantly working ovens, grills, and other cooking equipment, there’s a strong possibility for accidents to happen. Now add in Covid-19 safety regulations, with masks, screens, gloves and trying to stay socially distanced and you’ve just added to your fire hazards.  

Yet it remains a legal duty for businesses to carry out regular fire risk assessments and for staff and business owners to complete regular fire safety training. This is especially true in mobile food vans, where the potential for harm and destruction from a fire could spell disaster for the business.

Why do I need Fire Training?

If you are starting up, or already run a business, then you will need to think about your fire safety procedures. While for many small enterprises this may be a relatively simple process, for others it can be quite complex and require careful consideration. A good place to start is with the type of business you are operating, your environment and the possible danger these could present.

Keeping the workforce and anyone else on the premises safe is always the primary goal. One simple rule to follow is that the more people you have in the building – the more Wardens and other fire safety assets you are likely to need. As you would expect the more people you add into the scenario, the more you will need to consider. With a handful of employees you can easily adapt as needed, but this becomes much more difficult as the employee numbers increase.

Assessing your fire safety needs is not as simple as just the number of people in the building though, because other elements, such the environment, can be big factor. A small, office-based, operation with a handful of staff may not require much more than a Fire Warden and clear labelling.

A workshop containing flammable liquids and welding equipment will need careful risk assessment and very detailed procedures. Yet both of these examples could employ the same number of people. If your business is open to the public then you will need to also take this into account because they are unpredictable and untrained in an emergency. As you can see your fire safety requires careful thought.

Fire safety training courses can be completed online or in person, but whichever option you choose, it’s important to remember that your fire safety certificate must be refreshed on a regular basis. We specialise in delivering high quality fire safety training that fulfils the requirements of The Regulatory Reform (Fire Safety) Order 2005/Fire (Scotland) Act 2005 and is fully accredited by the Institution of Fire Engineers.

Fire Safety Inspections

Your premises can be inspected to check your compliance. This will usually be by a representative of the local Fire and Rescue authority. They will be looking for a number of things to see you are up to speed with your safety procedures. For example, they will expect to see that the staff are trained to a suitable level and awareness of fire safety equipment and process is in place.

Fire equipment such as extinguishers and alarms will also be part of their assessment. Their job is not to find fault though and they are usually very friendly and helpful. It will be their intention to work with you and not against you. Essentially all they are interested in is the simple question ‘are your premises and people in them, safe’? However, make no mistake that if you do not comply with current legislation you could be facing some pretty serious consequences.

Fire safety certificates are no longer issued for most businesses. The principles behind the certificate, however, are still very much in force and if you don’t comply, you could find yourself on the receiving end of a hefty fine. The Regulatory Reform (Fire Safety) Order 2005 is very clear on the matter of what you must do as a business owner and employer and what laws you must adhere to.

The post Small Businesses: A Guide to Fire Safety appeared first on Fire Training Company.

It may seem obvious, but fire safety when working from home is a consideration that more and more people are taking on with the ever-growing trend.

Here, we look at the most important aspect to consider when protecting yourself from a fire when working remotely – the smoke detector.

Just how important do you think your smoke detector is?

Apart from the occasional irritating squeak if they need a battery change, we tend not to even notice smoke detectors. However, they are a vital part of your fire safety working from home equipment because they are the essential early warning that something is wrong. The little round life savers are everywhere but we seldom give them a second thought.

When was the last time you thought about checking the batteries or have you taken them out? That squeak may be annoying, but not as annoying as losing everything you own.

Is one smoke dector enough?

Depending upon the number of rooms you have, you will need more than one smoke detector. Make sure you fit your smoke detectors away from kitchens or bathrooms as steam can damage the alarm, or set it off by mistake. This is generally why people remove the batteries, because steam sets them off. So by taking some time to think about where to position them, will save irritation and a life if they are needed.

Did you know there is more than one type of smoke detectors?

There are really three main methods employed for smoke detection.

Ionisation – This the most common detector for domestic and small area use. Inside the detector is an ionisation chamber that detects the changes in its ionisation process if smoke particulates interrupt it. This sets off the alarm. They are simple and cheap to make but they can be over sensitive and occasionally simple kitchen particulates or even dust can set them off. That said they are a perfectly acceptable first line defence against fire around the UK.

Heat – A heat detector is not sensitive to particulates, so it is less prone to false alarms. They are often used in kitchens and other potentially ‘smokey’ environments where the presence of smoke does not necessarily mean a fire. Instead they detect changes in temperature, but this can limit them to a small area.

Photoelectric – These smoke detectors work by going off when smoke interferes with a steady beam of light causing it to strike a sensor. The upside of photoelectric is that they are more likely to detect smouldering furniture and similar and they don’t go off every time someone burns the toast. However, they are more expensive than Ionisation and so not very popular in low end applications.

Some smoke detectors will have a combination of the above kinds in a single unit. Whatever alarm you have, as with all emergency equipment, it is important that you have the right thing installed to ensure a consistent and appropriate overall fire safety working from home procedure.

5 Things To Remember About Your Fire Detectors

1. A smoke detector only has one purpose. It will give you advance warning that there is a potential problem which will hopefully give you a few valuable seconds to make your escape. Unless the cause is obvious do not ignore them or assume they have gone off accidentally. While you are debate the fire could be spreading rapidly.
2. Do not interfere with them. Our trainers here at the Fire Training Company can tell you stories that would make your hair curl about people doing stupid things with Smoke Detectors. Next time you visit a hotel notice how the warnings about not smoking in rooms are very close to the warnings about how much you will be charged for tampering with a smoke detector. Playing around with them can cost lives.
3. Remember to change the batteries regularly if needed. Some detectors rely on a battery as backup. This will need changing annually as a minimum. If you have a mains powered detector with a rechargeable battery built in, make sure you are aware of the maintenance schedules.
4. They should be replaced every 10 years. Sorry, but you cannot simply install a smoke detector and expect it to live forever.
5. Clean and maintain it. At regular intervals give the smoke detectors a little TLC. Remember dust and other contamination will reduce the effectiveness of the detector, so most manufacturers suggest you use the soft brush part of a vacuum to clean around the vents and sensors one or twice a year.

Fire safety when working from home: Are you using more electronic devices than usual?

Keep yourself and your home safe, don’t overload your plug sockets, leave leads trailing that people could trip over. Whether you own or rent your home, it’s important to know the signs of a potential electrical problem. Look out for scorch marks, flickering lights, hot plugs and sockets, fuses that blow or circuit-breakers that trip for no obvious reason. These could all be signs of loose or dangerous wiring. If in doubt get them checked by a qualified electrician – you are within your rights to ask this of your landlord if you are a tenant.

Also be aware if you are using electric heaters as an additional way to keep warm. Ensure that you don’t block your exit in an emergency. Don’t let anything fall onto the heater, more fires seem to occur when it’s colder. Most of these fires are easily preventable. Don’t become another statistic, it’s important to stay safe while heating your home.

Don’t leave electrical items unattended on soft surfaces, such as beds, cushions and bedding. Always use on a hard, flat, non-flammable surface. This is especially important if you are charging anything, as this increases the heat and is a potential fire danger area.

Are you concentrating in the kitchen?

Think when you decide to make that coffee or maybe heat up some soup or even the old adage “did I leave the iron on”. Carelessness causes fires, so take a break from your desk and concentrate on what you are doing in the kitchen.

Know how to use a fire blanket. Fire blankets are absolutely the very best instant response to some fire emergencies, and they can kill the flames (and the danger of the fire spreading) very quickly. To get the most from them you really do need to know how to use them effectively, quickly, and without panicking.

If you wouldn’t do it in the office – Don’t do it at home!

You probably think you know your home very well, but do you know how to get out quickly and safely in an emergency. Is there likely to be anyone else at home with you? Shouting up the stairs may not work if they have earphones in. As ridiculous as it may seem, have an evacuation plan and ensure everyone in your house knows it.

Many people may well adapt to permanently working from home, so ensure your own safety by taking time out to ensure your safety. It’s well worth investing in our Fire Safety training to know more how to respond to fires and fire prevention.

For more information please contact us by phone on 01327 552160, by email hello@smarthorizons.co.uk or via our online Chat system. Our staff are now based at home but working from 9am to 5.30pm Monday to Friday.

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Here in the UK, we use standardised signage, but do you know what they mean?

Fire Safety Signs – Colour Coding

Firstly though, you will notice that fire safety signs are also colour-coded. Each colour designates a certain category:

• Red signs are related to fire equipment. Fire extinguishers, for example, are always red, though the class of extinguisher is denoted in a different colour.
• Blue signs mandate an action on your part. Such actions are both mandatory and simple, like keeping a fire door closed.
• Green signs refer to guidance, helping you navigate your exit away from danger.

Keep this in mind as we go through all of the signs in this blog.

Keep Fire Door Closed

Admit it, you’ve seen them wedged open, quite often by using a fire extinguisher!

Fire doors can withstand high temperature and will save lives and property. Precious time for you to be able to evacuate the area and shut the fire behind you. They won’t put the fire out, but they can hold it off and possibly slow down the spread of a fire. If you wedge one open it may as well not be there.

If you come across a Fire Door without a viewing window, do not open it. How do you know if a fire is the other side? Does the handle feel hot, if so, do not open it.

Fire Action

These are quite often shown on the wall in common areas, it’s there for a reason – read it. Fire equipment and a fire alarm points are usually near by.

You should never tackle a fire unless you have no choice or the fire is clearly not going to spread and is very small and contained. Note that this sign also displays the number for the fire brigade and the assembly point.

Fire Alarm

Would you push that button or break that glass?

Fire spreads very quickly so hitting the alarm could save a life. The most common alarm button is the ‘break glass’ kind. So would you sound that alarm? If you think there is a fire, far better to raise the alarm early, than to just carry on and wait for someone else to do it. At the very least, let your Fire Marshal know you think there might be a fire.

Fire Extinguishers

Hopefully everyone in your building will have Fire Safety training, which covers the use of fire extinguishers and whether or not it is adviseable to use them. Usually there will be the fire alarm button nearby and if your building has them, an emergency call button for anyone with limited mobility.

Evacuation Chair

These are used to move persons with limited ability, who might not be able to evacuate themselves. You will find these in the stairwell and should be next to the Evac Chair sineage. This chair, as with all other fire quipment, should only be used in an emergency and your Fire Marshal will advise on how to use it.

In Conclusion

So to go back to the beginning, the signs are always there, it is just whether or not we pay attention to them. Look up and around, make a point of knowing what they are for. They could save your life, your property and those around you. Don’t wait until it is too late and it is already an emergency. Remember Fire Safety is everyone’s responsibility.

Will you learn fire safety signs in the workplace with fire safety training?

It’s really easy to get started with an online training course. We have multiple courses for you to choose from, so please click here to view all of our available online options.

All of our online courses are available 24/7 and can be started immediately after purchase. You can download a verifiable fire training certificate straight away upon successful completion too.

Alternatively, you can give our friendly customer support team a call on 01327 552160 or email us at hello@smarthorizons.co.uk to discuss your training needs and to receive a personalised quote for your training.

The post Fire Safety Signs in the Workplace appeared first on Fire Training Company.

Fire safety training for employees explained

With so many options to choose from, it can get confusing to figure out which course is best for you and your team. Indeed, certain individuals in your workplace may need to take a different level of training than other staff if they have an added responsibility for fire safety.

It’s important to ensure that your training is accredited and that it comes from a reputable training provider. Some certificates aren’t accepted as suitable evidence during inspection by the local authority. Moreover, in the event of an emergency, it’s best to have your staff properly trained, for their safety, and your training requirements covered in case of investigation.

So, what should fire safety training at work cover?

An understanding of why fire safety is so important

In order for fire safety training to have an impact on your staff, it’s important to choose a course that explains why fire safety is so important. This will help you to place your training into the context of a real-life situation or working environment. This training isn’t just another box checked on some paperwork but a serious, potentially life-saving part of your professional development.

The different types of fire extinguisher

There are many different types of fire, categorised by their causes and how to extinguish them. Inadequate knowledge in this regard could actually make the fire worse; you should know which fire extinguisher to use, for example.

The fire triangle

Part of understanding each different type of fire is the understanding of how a fire starts. A good fire training course will go into detail about the ways in which a fire breaks out, what fire actually is, what makes a fire continue to burn, and how to break the fire triangle.

Understanding how to break the fire triangle is vital here; removing one of heat, fuel and oxygen will collapse the fire. Whilst this sounds relatively simple, knowing how to do it in practice is far more complicated.

How to apply your knowledge to a real-life emergency in the workplace

It’s crucial to understand what starts a fire and how to extinguish one. However, it’s perhaps even more important to know how to prevent a fire in the first place.

A proper fire training course should cover the basics of fire prevention. This should include necessary procedures, identification of potential fires and methods of escape, as some examples. You might also be surprised to learn about some of the laws and legislation surrounding fire doors. In particular, how much you could be fined for blocking or propping a fire door open!

How to use fire extinguishers

Your workplace should be stocked with plenty of fire extinguishers at various locations around the site. However, in the event of an emergency, would you know how to use one? You’ve probably already noticed that there is more than one type of fire extinguisher. In a good fire safety training course, you’ll be taught about the different types of fire extinguisher, how to activate it and how to use it to fight fires.

The laws regarding fire safety for employees

When it comes to fire safety, the law is very clear, and the consequences of making a mistake can be life-changing. Needless to say, you need to have an awareness of the legislation surrounding fire safety and how it relates to you and your business.

Can I arrange online training for my employees?

If your team is smaller, or if you would rather train in such a way that allows you to keep your business running as usual without the need to pull staff from their duties, we also offer a selection of accredited online fire safety training courses.

Our online fire safety training courses teach you everything you need to know about fire safety to fall in line with the current government legislation and legal guidance. Within just 1 to 2 hours of learning time, upon successful completion of the final assessment, you can download your fully verifiable fire safety training certificate.

Online fire safety training is great for busy teams, saving you the administrative headache of keeping up to date with all staff training records. Our unique online learning management system allows your administrator(s) to see who has or hasn’t completed their fire safety training as well as whose certificates are getting close to their expiry date. What’s more, our system will automatically send reminders to staff when it’s getting close to the time of needing to renew their fire safety training.

Speak to our friendly customer support team, contact us by calling 01327 552160 or email hello@smarthorizons.co.uk today.

Related Links

• What is fire safety training?
• Why Do I Need Fire Safety Training?
• Fire Safety in the Workplace
• Online Fire Warden/Marshal Training

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There is always a possibility that a fire could break out in your workplace. Simply put, no one and no building is ever guaranteed to be safe from a fire. However, the good news is that effective fire safety measures can (and should) be put into place to give your business the lowest risk of a fire starting on premises.

This starts with a quality fire safety training course.

How likely is it that I’ll need to use my workplace fire prevention plan?

Of course, alongside brushing up on your fire safety knowledge with an accredited fire training course, you should also be aware that some work environments are more at risk than others simply because of mistakes made by staff and building managers.

Below, we’ll run through a list of some of the most common ways in which a fire can break out and cause serious (and potentially life-threatening) damage in your workplace. To reduce the likelihood of a fire breaking out, you’ll want to avoid all of these!

1. Workplace Fire Prevention – Forgetting to test your fire alarms

We recommend that every building should have a fire alarm, and it’s highly likely that your workspace already has one installed. However, this useful bit of equipment won’t be of much use to you when a fire breaks out if it isn’t working.

All fire alarms must be tested periodically to ensure that they’re in good working order. You can keep track of when you last tested your fire alarms by implementing a schedule and appointing a member of staff such as your designated fire warden to follow it.

Keep a record of every time you test your alarms (we recommend you test yours weekly) and be sure that any maintenance checks are also scheduled regularly. The sooner you are alerted to a fire, the more time you will have to evacuate, and you increase the amount of time the emergency services has to tackle the blaze before any irreparable damage is done.

2. Overcrowding your storage cupboards

Okay, so your office might not be the tidiest place in the world, but you should know that the messier your storage areas are, the higher the likelihood of needing workplace fire prevention. This is particularly true of combustible materials such as paper and cardboard, so if you know of any storage areas where there are stacks of old documents or boxes upon boxes of unused materials, it might be time to suggest a spring clean.

Ideally, you should arrange to clear out any unwanted material once a year, or more often if you work in a business where there is a regular build-up of combustible materials in storage. All it takes is for one person to flick a lighter or drop a cigarette butt close to a combustible material, and within seconds, your whole storage room could be up in flames.

3. Letting leaves pile up in your staff car park or around your building

You might not think it, but piles of leaves and litter in your car park or anywhere close to your building can also increase the risk of fire. Similar to above, all it takes is for one person to drop a cigarette butt on the floor outside your building, and a small fire in a scattered pile of leaves could quickly lead to a building fire for your business.

To avoid this risk, be sure to sweep your premises regularly and pick up any litter you see. Correctly dispose of leaves and litter rather than letting them pile up in any given area onsite and you will minimise the risk of combustion.

4. Blocking a fire exit that’s key to your workplace fire prevention

Most business premises will have a fire door, but even if your business doesn’t, be certain to never block entrances, exits, or fire doors for any length of time, for any purpose. A fire could break out at any moment and this could be your only escape route.

You should also be mindful of the pathway to your fire door. Keeping the space around a fire door clear is just as important as making sure nothing is blocking you from opening it. In the event of a fire, you need to be prepared for low visibility (due to thick smoke), so make sure there is a clear pathway toward your fire, entrance, and exit doors from all possible locations in the building. This means no piling boxes in narrow entryways or cluttering floorspace with too much equipment.

5. Plugging too many devices into electrical sockets

Workplace fire prevention can be hampered by overloading electrical sockets and adaptors with too many plugs. If you use extension cables with multiple plug sockets, you should never “add” to these with other adaptors or multi-socket extensions. Doing this can lead quickly to the electrical socket overheating, and this can result in deadly fire.

Always be mindful that the electrical equipment you are using is safe and conforms to British safety standards. In many business, regular PAT testing should be carried out on all electrical devices that will be used onsite.

6. Neglecting your fire safety responsibilities

Human error cannot be totally eliminated, but you can train yourself and your staff to know the basics of fire safety so that a dependable workplace fire prevention plan is in place.

Our accredited online fire training courses are a convenient solution if you would like immediate fire safety training. Alternatively, why not take a look at our face-to-face fire safety courses and have one of our experienced ex-emergency services personnel come to your premises?

For more information, please get in touch with us by calling 01327 552160, use the live chat feature available on this website, or email us at hello@smarthorizons.co.uk today.

The post Workplace Fire Prevention appeared first on Fire Training Company.

For the employer then, fire safety training for employees is something that must be done. However, we often come across employers that see it as a ‘necessary evil’. Yes, it has a cost in terms of both a financial outlay (although this is often less than people think) and it takes up time for employees to be away from their jobs, although an online option is available which makes this less of a problem. However, if you do not consider the benefits fully, it is no wonder that training employees in fire safety is sometimes seen as a hoop you need to jump through to meet the requirements of the law.

Fire Safety Tips in the Workplace

• Within any business someone will be the ‘Responsible Person’ and this is usually one of the directors or owner. When it says ‘responsible’ it means exactly that and they are accountable should there be an incident involving fire safety. If there were to be a fire, then the responsible person would probably need to demonstrate due diligence and that would be hard to do with incomplete training records or inadequately trained staff. The more that you can show you have taken appropriate precautions the better.
  
  
• The cost of a fire is catastrophic for most businesses. When a business suffers a fire related incident it can mean financial ruin. The insurance may well pay out but the down time, the logistics of replacing valuable equipment, the need to rebuild, repair or just re-decorate and many other factors can potentially cause closure. A trained person is far more likely to respond quickly and appropriately to an incident and not only that but, as the next section discusses, be your best defence against a potential fire.
  
  
• When you train your team in fire safety in the workplace you will probably need additional training for some of them to become designated Fire Marshals. There is nothing to stop you training more of your team as Fire Marshals though and the better people are trained, the more proactive they become. This could cost a lot less than you think and in some cases even exactly the same as training the lower level. There are two very real benefits to having more Fire Marshals trained level people than you need.
  
  1. You are never short of Fire Marshals regardless of the circumstances. While you will still need to have designated Marshals you will also have enough trained people to cover as needed.
     
     
  2. Most importantly you will increase the level of proactive fire prevention in your whole team. When you have a culture of fire prevention in the employees, they will develop ownership of the needs of fire safety. Our trainers are on site 5 days a week in various business from nursery schools to major industrial sites and they regularly see infringements of fire safety rules such as cluttered exits and out of place safety equipment. It is hardly surprising in a busy workplace that these things happen but it is quite a scary thought that nobody had solved the problem. A proactive, well trained, team may just be the difference between a fire starting and it being prevented in the first place.
     
• Well trained staff have higher job satisfaction than untrained ones and that leads to better retention. Ask any human resources professional and they will tell you that training really does make employees feel valued, and that generates loyalty and job satisfaction. Training is also something that contributes to a positive employee culture which is known to increase performance.

Whatever you decide about fire safety training for employees, you must act on it, ensure it is in place and that all your team are trained. So rather than look on it as a necessary evil to be completed, why not look at it from the point of view of the potential benefits to the business?

Fire safety training for your employees, particularly fire marshal training, not only means they will react better if there is a fire, but they may well prevent one in the first place.

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Occasionally there is a misunderstanding about size, when it comes to accommodation and yes, of course, the actual requirements of fire safety vary depending on the kind of hotel facility involved. The fire alarms and other warning systems, for example, are going to be considerably more sophisticated in a busy conference centre and spa, than they are in a small boutique hotel. The number of staff will affect the need for trained fire wardens and how your evacuation policy works. Even location can make a difference; a central London hotel will need to take a very different approach to fire than a small boutique one on the Brighton promenade. The underlying requirements however are all the same. You must have an appropriate fire safety policy and the associated practices in place. All the rest is implementation, because the bottom line is not about the size of your business it is about the responsibility to your staff and guests.

That said, clearly the hotel, bed and breakfast and any other accommodation business are different to other working environments. The fact that guests are there overnight or to attend a conference or other types of event, will impact on your fire safety processes. As well as the unusual nature of the business, regular shift changes and the unreliable and unknown nature of the visitors, add a further dimension to the already complex problem. Your fire risk assessment will cover the main policies, so the following are a few suggestions, hints, tips and things you may want to consider as well.

Fire Safety Tips for Hotels

• Are all your staff trained to the right level? Legally you must train everyone who works for you to an appropriate level of fire safety. This could mean a quick online course in a smaller hotel or it could be a full series of face to face sessions for a larger concern. Whatever your needs though, maybe you could consider increasing the number of Fire Marshal trained workers you have. The cost of this upgrade will be minimal or indeed nothing extra at all. The reason we suggest extra training is that, as a rule of thumb, the more in depth the training they have the more confident people are, and the more confident they are the more likely it is that people will take the initiative. Initiative could save lives and property.
  
  
• Initiative and ownership of fire safety should be part of your practice. Designated Fire Marshals have very specific responsibilities for some of your fire safety practice but if everyone in the team sees fire safety as their responsibility as well, it could prove a valuable tool. The best way to fight fire is to prevent it happening in the first place. If all the team see it as their duty to spot and deal with potential hazards, you are adding another layer of protection to your fire safety.
  
  
• Hotels are for travellers, so have you considered language barriers? The sign on the back of your room doors may be in a few commonly used languages but in the middle of a fire emergency guests will be scared and prone to making mistakes. Some simple measures like the team knowing a few select phrases such as ‘There may be a fire please go to the car park’ in a handful of languages may be all a guest needs to understand where they need to be.
  
  
• Guests come and go and some of them will have mobility issues. Usually you will have this catered for in advance of them arriving at the hotel. What about the ones with temporary problems though? A guest with a temporary injury may not have thought to let you know, so it’s worth having a policy in place to pass information on at the shift change so the team are aware of a guest who may have a problem if there is an issue.
  
  
• Keep on top of your safety practice because it is for your benefit as well as that of others. When things are busy in summer or during the party season, it is easy for fire safety to drop off the radar. The proof of the pudding is in the eating, so make sure you keep up your practice no matter how busy things get. If a fire does break out, it is not going to wait for a convenient time so your fire safety procedures must be robust no matter when they are needed. Your weekly checks such as fire extinguisher maintenance, your fire walks and so on should all continue regardless of how busy you are. If you have an incident and you didn’t maintain your fire safety, you could be in some real hot water.
  
  
• Be vigilant and watch out for the dangerous things that guests will do. Ask anyone who has been in hospitality for a while and they will tell you stories of guests who smoke in rooms by disabling the smoke detectors or guests who bring their own heaters. I even heard of one guest who had used a portable barbecue balanced on a window ledge outside an open window. A little vigilance for the smell of cigarettes in a corridor could well prevent an incident.

As a final thought… The staff and guests all deserve to be safe when they are on your premises and those two words ‘your premises’ are probably the final piece in excellent fire safety procedure. Know the law and make it fit for purpose around your own premises. There may well be no one size fits all solution to fire safety but it must still work for everyone.

Learn more about our online fire training courses.

Learn more about our face-to-face fire safety training for hotels courses.

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