Fire Wardens/Marshals

Kelly Mansfield - Workplace Law Network
Online advisor - 60 posts

Hi Hayley,

Gary Callaghan is a Fire Consultant for Workplace Law. He provides the following guidance in response to your query:

"With regard to the first part of the question ‘How often should Fire Wardens/Fire Marshals receive external training?', essentially, I am not aware of any requirement (legal or implied) for employees to be specifically provided with EXTERNAL training. The essence of the matter is the level of professional competence of the person providing training. Whilst it is acknowledged within statutory guidance that persons who assume roles with extra responsibilities (Managers, Fire Marshals et al) should be considered for additional training sufficient to allow them to safely carry out their specified function, the person providing this training could be someone from within the company who has acquired/been provided with the underpinning skills, knowledge, training and experience etc to be able to cascade the training to their peers (in this case nominated Fire Marshals) within the business.

"On the upside, if a company decided to equip one of their own employees with the aforementioned underpinning skills, knowledge, training and experience, etc. to be able to cascade the training, someone (in our case Workplace Law Group) has to provide the nominated person with that level of competence in the first place.

"Is there a legal requirement for refresher training? Quite simply, the answer to this question has to be ‘yes’, however it is necessary to also look beyond the Fire Safety Order when considering this question.

"Primarily there is the implicit requirement contained in the Health and Safety at Work etc Act 1974 to provide employees with information, instruction, training and supervision necessary to ensure, so far as is reasonably practicable, their health and safety at work.

"The Management of Health and Safety at Work Regulations 1999 - Approved Code of Practise and Guidance also states:

Regulation 13: ‘Capabilities and training’

(1) Every employer shall, in entrusting tasks to his employees, take into account
their capabilities as regards health and safety.

(2) Every employer shall ensure that his employees are provided with adequate
health and safety training-

(a) on their being recruited into the employer's undertaking; and

(b) on their being exposed to new or increased risks because of –

(i) their being transferred or given a change of responsibilities within the employer's undertaking,

(ii) the introduction of new work equipment into or a change respecting work equipment already in use within the employer's
undertaking,

(iii) the introduction of new technology into the employer's undertaking,
or
(iv) the introduction of a new system of work into or a change respecting a system of work already in use within the employer's
undertaking.

(3) The training referred to in paragraph (2) shall-

(a) be repeated periodically where appropriate;

(b) be adapted to take account of any new or changed risks to the health and safety of the employees concerned; and

(c) take place during working hours.

"The content of Article 21 of The Fire Safety Order 2005 ‘Training’, is essentially a ‘copy out’ of the content of Regulation 13: ‘Capabilities and training’ of The Management of Health and Safety at Work Regulations 1999 and makes mention of the need for training to be repeated periodically where appropriate.

"The guidance documents published by the CLG and which are available to support the ‘Responsible Person’ make an informed judgement on how to comply with the requirements of the Fire Safety Order simply states that 'refresher training should be repeated at pre determined intervals' and 'as often as is necessary'.

"With regard to the 'at pre determined intervals' aspect, I am not aware of any ‘Industry Standard’ for when such training should be repeated. I am aware of companies who conduct their refresher training annually, whilst others consider a two- or three-year period to be appropriate.

"I would suggest that a great number of factors can influence the 'as often as is necessary element' of when refresher training is carried out, and in addition to the matters discussed in the above mentioned Regulation 13, I offer a few examples more specific to fire safety in premises to clarify this:

1. When staff are moved to a different part of a large or complex building, or are required to undertake a different role, or their work responsibilities have changed;
2. Where an employee has a defined role in the evacuation of disabled persons or those identified by the Fire Risk Assessment as being especially at risk (this is a role commonly associated with the duties and responsibilities of a Fire Marshal);
3. Where changes have been made to the Emergency Plan particular to the premises;
4. Where structural alterations have affected the means of escape from a building.

"It is worthy to note that whatever training frequency is considered necessary in relation to fire safety within premises, it should be verifiable. Stakeholders such as The Fire Authority and insurance companies may wish to examine your records as part of any routine audit or inspection they carry out.

"There are 17 references specific to training contained in the Fire Safety Order, the great majority of which refer to the need for a person to demonstrate sufficient “experience, training, knowledge or other qualities” to enable him to comply with the requirements of that particular element of the Order in which each respective reference to training is contained".

I hope this information answers your query. Workpace Law does offer Fire Warden training, the details of which are included in our training supplement, downloadable from here: http://www.workplacelaw.net/specialoffers/view/id/3261
If you want to discuss this in more depth call Holly James on 01223 431 072

Best wishes,
Kelly Mansfield
Head of Network

Iain Sanderson
Member - 28 posts

It is worthwhile considering the frequency of training as specfied in the now defunct Fire Certificates issued under the Fire Precautions Act 1971. The training was required at commencement of employment and annually thereafter, except in some hotels where the training was every six months In light of the fact that nothing is specified either in the Regulatory Reform (Fire Safety Order) nor the Fire Safety (Scotland) Regulations, this, I would suggest, is a good starting point.

Mike Kane
Member - 11 posts

Hi Iain, big problem here........ the government wants to "reduce the burden on businesses" and " promote a risk based regime rather than a prescriptive regime" however, they never thought through how employers would actually implement the new regime. The Regulatory Reform Order and the Fire Safety Scotland Regulations places many fire safety duties upon employers and building owners but give no indication as to how those duties are to be discharged. The previous thread has tried to address concerns and sell basic safety training courses (see Kelly Mansfield 17.03.08) which is actually typical of the latest breeds of locusts spawned by the uncertainty of the new fire safety legislation which has been used to both frighten employers on the one hand and lull them into a false sense of security on the other, in that they can have a 1/2 days course which gives them the necessary fire safety knowledge to undertake a competent fire risk assessment of the workplace. Bollocks. There are articles within the new fire safety order which are far reaching and which will result in major legal rulings, a fact not fully recognised by most organisations involved at this time. In the meantime, the basic instructions issued under the previous legislation is a stable point to start from, as there is no definitive advice forthcoming from the DCLOG or the FRA's at this time. In respect of the frequency of staff training and other matters, I would suggest those with a genuine interest consider the implication of Article 17 of the order. In the meantime, employers should maintain a regime of initial informative training followed by regular updates (annual remider sessions) for all members of staff and then consider the appointment of sufficient competent staff to undertake all the necessary duties specified in orther articles of the Regulations