The legislation that underpins fire safety in England and Wales is The Regulatory Reform (Fire Safety) Order and came into force in October 2006. Many people refer to it as the RR(FS)O, FSO or just the RRO, for the sake of simplicity we will call it the RRO! Contained with the legislation are sections called ‘Articles’ and it is these ‘Articles’ that direct the Responsible Person (more on this later, the definition of the Responsible Person can be somewhat puzzling, in this instance we shall just say its ‘You’ the reader!) towards ensuring that the workplace has a suitable and sufficient number of designated wardens and that they are adequately trained or ‘Competent’ (again more on this later, it’s another confusing term which we will untangle for you in the not too distant future.

The history behind the creation of the legislation was the need to create efficiency, effectiveness and consistency (every business likes to hear those words) in the fire safety sector. Therefore in 2000, the Government in the form of the Office of the Deputy Prime Minister (OPDM) set up a review of the fire safety legislation led by the Deputy Prime Minister John Prescott MP and found that there were some 80 Acts of Parliament or parts of Acts which specified fire safety legislation. In order to revamp the whole thing and bring it up to date, they decided to place all the odd bits of fire legislation under the umbrella of the Regulatory Reform (Fire Safety) Order 2005.  

The Fire Safety Order 2005 applies to most buildings and sites, except for private dwellings, though the RRO does apply to communal areas/escape routes serving dwellings. With regards to fire warden training there are several ‘Articles’ that directly relate to training.

We are all too aware that in modern life it is the small print that trips us up, why? Quite simply legal text only makes sense to a legal person! Thankfully the legislation that exists for fire is quite direct and additional guides have been written to help employers (aka The Responsible Person) and of course you have us at Smart Health and Safety to assist you! There are three Articles that direct the Responsible Person to train their staff, we shall on your behalf headline them for you.

1. Article 8. Duty to take general fire precautions which includes measures relating to the instruction and training of employees.

2. Article 15. Procedures for serious and imminent danger and for danger areas, this tells the employer to establish appropriate procedures, including fire safety drills, that are to be followed in the event of serious and imminent danger to relevant persons. Additionally there should also be a suitable number of competent (there is that word again) persons available to implement the procedures in the event of fire or emergency
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3. Article 21. The responsible person must ensure that his employees are provided with adequate safety training.

Yes, that’s it, three simple directives that tell you to train your staff. However, one size training does not fit all! Training needs to cover the role requirements of the individual. If an employee has no other fire safety responsibilities assigned to them, then basic fire awareness training will suffice (yes there is another blog for this!) If, however, you have nominated them to act as a warden then a greater knowledge of fire safety is required. For our fire warden(s) the training should along with basic fire awareness input include the following:

1. detailed knowledge of the fire safety strategy (how the building lives, breathes, functions etc) of the premises

2. awareness of human behaviour in fires
3. how to encourage others to use the most appropriate escape route

   how to search safely and recognise areas that are unsafe to enter

4. the difficulties that some people, particularly if disabled, may have in escaping and any special evacuation arrangements that have been pre-planned

5. additional training in the use of firefighting equipment

6. an understanding of the purpose of any fixed fire fighting equipment such as sprinklers or gas flooding systems; and
7. reporting of faults, incidents and near misses.

Smart Health and Safety will be publishing a series of these light touch and light hearted blogs to help inform and educate individuals who may have responsibility for fire safety in their day to day activities, as mentioned earlier fire safety need not be expensive in fact good fire safety makes for good business. We believe that a positive attitude towards fire safety from management leads to a culture of fire awareness and understanding. We see our role as assisting in developing that culture. In the near future we shall look at basic fire awareness training for employees, how to safely use portable fire extinguishers, the importance of simple premises layout plans to name a few.

Stay safe, remember fire safety starts in the home…have you got a simple fire safety plan for the home?