Fire Training

What law states I must have fire training?

Sorry for the techy bit but it is important you are aware of this and this can be searched under any Google search on the internet. This must be considered in conjunction with the section ‘Do I need to train staff on fire fighting with extinguishers?’

Under article 13 of The Regulatory Reform (Fire Safety) Order 2005

Fire-fighting and fire detection 

13. —(1) Where necessary (whether due to the features of the premises, the activity carried on there, any hazard present or any other relevant circumstances) in order to safeguard the safety of relevant persons, the responsible person must ensure that—

(3) The responsible person must, where necessary— 

(a) take measures for fire-fighting in the premises, adapted to the nature of the activities carried on there and the size of the undertaking and of the premises concerned; 

(b) nominate competent persons to implement those measures and ensure that the number of such persons, their training and the equipment available to them are adequate, taking into account the size of, and the specific hazards involved in, the premises concerned; and

(4) A person is to be regarded as competent for the purposes of paragraph (3)(b) where he has sufficient training and experience or knowledge and other qualities to enable him properly to implement the measures referred to in that paragraph.

Again, from a report from The Chief Fire Officers association advises:-

Responsible persons are required to take measures for fire-fighting in the premises (e.g. the drawing up of a suitable fire-fighting plan) where necessary for the purpose of safeguarding relevant persons in case of fire. 

Such measures as are taken will be tailored to the circumstances of the premises. Responsible persons shall nominate a sufficient number of their employees to implement those measures and ensure that they are adequately trained and equipped to carry out their responsibilities. This provision should complement rather than replace fire and rescue authorities’ fire-fighting role. The intention of the Order was to: 

“… make it clear that fire fighting equipment should be considered as a possible means of reducing a risk of fire spreading, providing protection and for providing assistance to others … It should also be considered as a possible means of mitigating the detrimental effects of a fire.”

Nominated relevant persons should be able to tackle a fire if it is safe to do so and they know how to do it safely. They must not put themselves at risk to fight fire; their personal safety remains the priority. Nonetheless this priority must not be used by responsible persons to avoid compliance with this requirement. Many employers believe that to comply with this requirement involves a necessity to train some of their employees as fire-fighters. This is clearly not the case; and inspecting officers should be seeking compliance from employer responsible persons by training an adequate number of employees to undertake first aid fire-fighting duties and inherent in that training must be the teaching of employees to recognise when first-aid fire-fighting is or is not safe to implement.

And 

Article 15 – Procedures for serious and imminent danger and for danger areas 

The Regulatory Reform (Fire Safety) Order 2005 

Procedures for serious and imminent danger and for danger areas 15. —

(1) The responsible person must— 

(a) establish and, where necessary, give effect to appropriate procedures, including safety drills, to be followed in the event of serious and imminent danger to relevant persons; 

(b) nominate a sufficient number of competent persons to implement those procedures in so far as they relate to the evacuation of relevant persons from the premises;