TRAINING - 05.05.2009

Must all staff have fire extinguisher training?

This must be a myth - surely?

During a recent conversation with a colleague, they told you that it’s a legal requirement for all staff to have sufficient training in how to use a fire extinguisher. Initially, you dismissed this, but you’ve managed to convince yourself that it might be true. So is it really a requirement for employers to train all staff in how to use an extinguisher?

An explicit requirement?

The days of cast-iron prescriptive requirements are largely gone. The Regulatory Reform (Fire Safety) Order 2005 (FSO) put paid to that. So no matter how many pages of fire legislation you read through, you won’t find any explicit requirements to train all your staff in how to use a fire extinguisher.

Tip. How many staff you train in this area must be detailed in your fire risk assessment. To identify who should receive training, follow this principle: if circumstances exist in which your staff may need to use an extinguisher, then they should have sufficient instruction in how to use it.

Should all staff be trained?

Ideally, yes. This is because a situation may arise where any member of staff may need to use an extinguisher to escape from your premises. Although most would have a rough idea how to use one, waiting until they’re faced with a fire is not the time to find out whether this is actually the case!

Tip. Any training in fire extinguisher use should be very basic. In fact, the simpler the better. The aim is to ensure that if your employee is on their own and faced with a fire, they would know which extinguisher to use, and what they should do with it. Nothing more. You’re not training them to be fire marshals etc.

What format should your training take?

There are no set rules as to how or when you should complete this training. So the following tips are our guide to the simplest and cheapest way of doing it:

Tip 1. Combine the training with your health and safety induction or as a bolt-on to other fire or safety training.

Tip 2. Keep the training brief. You should be able to cover everything in under 15 minutes.

Tip 3. Base your training on our free sample fire extinguisher safety briefing (see The next step).

Tip 4. Use real fire extinguishers as training aids. You can show staff where the safety pin is and where it should be held etc.

Tip 5. Be absolutely clear that staff should only use the extinguishers to help them escape from the building. You are not expecting them to become fire fighters.

Tip 6. Do not employ external training consultants to do this, it’s a waste of money. Ideally, the fire marshal responsible for the area or a manager should complete the training.

For our free sample fire extinguisher safety briefing, visit http://healthandsafety.indicator.co.uk (HS 07.16.02).