Annual Fire Safety Training

Anoop, not only do you require PI insurance you also need training insurance. Your friendly lawyer.

@ Anoop, ref people on your premises, try Occupiers Liability Act 1957 and 1984.

Hi Anoop,
I'm not an expert on insurance but my understanding is as follows "If members of the public or customers come to your premises or you go to theirs (including if you work from home), you should think about taking out public liability (PL) insurance." If you provide this service to staff who work for the same employer as your self then I would have thought that you would have been covered under that policy but it may be worth asking the question.

Regards Alan

Thank you Alan/Ian,
To summarise, I have higher practical training (as per Ian), trained by Fire and Rescue team to give Fire Warden training (Competency proved), have given lectures. So do I need public liability insurance or does my company need to take some sort of indemnity insurance for me to carry on?
H&S manager's issue is not my competency but the insurance cover for this value added work I am doing for our client.
In addition to competency, value for money is in in-house trainer, considering the turnover of fire wardens for various issues.
Anoop

Anoop,
If you have gone through Ian's comments and are happy with them I don't see that you have a problem. Even if you employed a third party it doesn't always follow that they are competent and you should always go through a process to check this before you place the contract.
I have noticed this about some companies in the past that they sometimes feel that third parties provide more competent advice than those that come from their own staff and obviously this is not always true but if your employer feels more secure in this option let him pay the cost and you can then judge their competency.

Regards Alan

The concept of competence has been with us for a very long time. Many qualifications are now based around definitions of competence for specific roles, the most famous of which are NVQs. Using competence springs from the idea of that having a good grasp of the knowledge and theory behind a subject does not guarantee the ability to turn that into competent performance.

Many organisations now use the concept of competence during their recruitment processes, and subsequently to measure and improve employee development. In fact, job descriptions are a basic definition of the knowledge, skills and attitude that are required for a given role. Competence is defined as being the mix of these three things.

It is easiest to define a competence as "the ability to perform activities to the standards required in employment, using an appropriate mix of knowledge, skill and attitude". All three aspects must be present if someone is to be effective in the workplace. To improve competence you need to increase not only your knowledge, but also your understanding of how that knowledge can be applied; your skill in applying it; and the attitude to apply it correctly.
To break this down further, knowledge can be considered as the underpinning principles or theory of a process or procedure. For example, at an extremely simple level, if you are repairing an item of electrical equipment, you may need to know what class of equipment it is and what tests should be performed. Increased knowledge might take the form of managing the test and maintenance programme.

To continue this example, skill could mean the ability to calibrate the test results. Greater skill may be required to immediately recognise that the component is damaged and, subsequently, to propose modifications.
Attitude, in this example, could be expressed as deciding whether it is safe to carry out the test. An extension of this would be ensuring that others, who also carry out the procedure, do so in a safe manner; and taking corrective action if this is not so. It could also mean reviewing the test procedure so that any unnecessary steps are eliminated or that further steps to enhance safety or efficiency are introduced.

Remember, overall competence is made up of competences in many different areas. All technical professionals need to consider the important question of how to develop competences in areas that are appropriate to their job, and these may be commercial as well as technical.

Defining competences

Before you can start to work with competences you need to define 4 things:

• what your role encompasses - i.e. what you need to be competent to do

• the knowledge, skills and attitude that make up that competence

• at what level you need to be competent - i.e. whether a basic knowledge of the subject is adequate, or do you need to be an expert?

• what you could do to prove that competence - e.g. what evidence you could provide.

Defining exactly what tasks you need to be competent at, and to what level, can be very difficult. Wherever possible you should always seek out existing competence frameworks, and your personnel department may be able to help you identify where these might exist for your particular industry or function. Indeed, many companies have already created their own frameworks, or there may be existing published standards you can use. If you are unable to find any existing frameworks you will need to create your own. Some organisations have very detailed job descriptions or person specifications, which can go a long way towards helping you create your own set of competences. To start with you should aim to assess yourself at this broad level, rather than trying to analyse the minute detail of every task you do.

You will need to identify the performance standards which apply to your work. Standards may be laid down at international, national or company level, and include quality, safety and environmental standards. Effectively, standards enable you to assess whether you have done the job properly.

Using the broad details of the tasks and standards that make up your work, you can then consider the combination of knowledge, skill and attitude that are needed to perform your work competently. Think about technical, business, managerial and personal skills. Very often, improving your personal skills will enhance the way you demonstrate your wider competences. For example, presentational or time-management skills can substantially raise overall performance and confidence.

Using competences for professional development

Once you are aware of your current position, defining where you want to be and deciding which competences are your priority for development will be much easier tasks. This will then enable you to produce your Development Action Plan. I would suggest that you work to develop only a few new skills or areas of competence at any given time.

If your goal is to perform a particular aspect of your current job better, use your job specification to determine which aspects of knowledge or skills you need to work on. Similarly, you do not have to limit yourself to using specifications that have been created for your current job. You may find it useful to make an assessment of your competence against a framework for a higher level of responsibility or different job, particularly if you are aiming for a promotion or to move into a different role. This will enable you to complete a gap analysis, showing you where you need to take development action in order to achieve your target level of competence - and therefore your goal.
Many of your goals are likely to be concerned with technical areas. However, do not forget your interpersonal skills. Very often improving your interpersonal skills, such as your ability to influence people, can bring considerable benefit.

Assessing competence

Having defined your set of competences, the next step is to assess yourself against these. This will give you an indication of your ability to perform your current role. You will need to examine yourself against each competence statement and decide what level you think you are operating at. Comparing yourself to others may help here, using respected colleagues as a benchmark of good practice.

Of course, you will not always be able to do this for yourself: you may need help from another professional such as your manager or mentor. Arrange a time to talk over your performance with them, but be prepared to accept their feedback!

Levels of competence

It takes time to develop competences, and you will realise that you will have different competences, at varying levels of expertise, in different areas. You may wish to develop some to a very high level, while to advance in others may not be so important or relevant. Remember that it takes time to develop competence and, in order to remain competent in a particular area, you will need to use the knowledge and associated skills regularly, or you will slowly lose your proficiency.

Some organisations have formal scales for assessing competence in particular areas. Here, line managers/assessors are trained to judge levels of competence against set standards. Of course, where standards exist and where they are relevant to you, they may be used as benchmarks. However, many professionals use standards not to measure themselves in any absolute way, but to be able to observe/measure their own improvement. So, if you choose to use levels of competence for your own development, do not worry about defining absolute scales. Do not feel bound to use any particular measures or definitions, but do try to use a framework to help you focus and improve.

The broad definitions of supervised practitioner, practitioner, and expert, may be useful. Other possible scales might be:

Category A Fully competent in area.

Category B: Can demonstrate competence in most elements ssociated with area.

Category C: Can demonstrate competence in some elements associated with area.

Category D: Unable to offer any evidence of competence in area.

For grading your knowledge and skill level, use a five-point scale:

Level 1: Performs the activity with significant supervision and guidance
Performs basic routines and predictable tasks. Little or no responsibility or autonomy.

Level 2: Supervision is only required in more complex circumstances. Some individual responsibility or autonomy.

Level 3: Performs the activity in some complex and non routine contexts
Significant responsibility and autonomy. Can oversee the work of others
Level 4: Performs the activity in a wide range of complex and non-routine contexts Substantial personal autonomy. Can develop others in the activity
Level 5: Can take a strategic view. Applies a significant range of fundamental principles and complex techniques across a wide and often unpredictable variety of contexts. Wide scope of personal autonomy.

Use some form of chart or framework to monitor the improvement in your competences over time. There are some suggested forms in the section on Forms.

Confirming your attainments

In general, providing you are as honest with yourself as possible, you should feel comfortable with assessing your own level of competence. However, you may find it valuable to use a third party, such as those listed below, to question your thoughts and give an independent view:

• your manager
• your mentor
• your colleagues
• your clients

You should, however, be aware of conflicts of interest, which may bias any third party's viewpoint, especially when talking to line managers, clients or colleagues.

Mapping employer's competence statements

If you are using your employer's competence framework/profile, but you also wish to use an additional framework, for example if you want to attain professional registration, then you will need a process for mapping the company competence framework onto the additional competence statements.
This can be a daunting task, but discussion with your manager and/or mentor should help you to match one set to the other.

Using published standards

If you do not have a competence framework within your company that you can use, then you can create your own, based on what other people have done.

There are a number of published general standards, elements of which may apply to your particular role and will provide you with a starting point in developing your own.

Hope you haven't fallen asleep !!! :-)

Yours Aye,

Ian

Being ex MoD (Navy) myself Anoop, Crown Fire Standards are set above the minimum requirements of the RRO, thus the training also provided is pitched higher ... "belts and braces".

As I have experienced myself, the MoD does not always pay for course licences, so whilst they might be approved / acredited by a recognised organisation (IFE, HSE etc), they might not be accepted elsewhere.

I would however, advocate the fact that provided you can prove your competence, what's the issue?


Example 1.

A person with practical and theoretical knowledge as well as sufficient experience of the particular machinery, plant or procedure involved, to enable them to identify defects or weaknesses during plant and machinery examinations, and to assess their importance in relation to the strength and function of that plant, machinery or procedure.

Example 2.

A knowledge and understanding of the work involved, the principles of risk assessment and prevention and current health & safety applications.

Example 3.

The capacity to apply this to the task required by the employer in the form of problem and solution identification, monitoring and evaluating the effectiveness of solutions and the promotion and communication of health & safety and welfare advances and practices.

As regards "cut & paste" ... PMSL ... doing it that way would have been half the fun.

Yours Aye,

Ian

Thank you Ian and Alan, First Ian, I hope you used cut & paste to do this write up. This is spot on and has added to my knowledge. I am a facilities coordinator and our client depends on me to look after First Aid and Fire Warden recruitment and to some extend arranging or providing training.
To Alan's reply, I have had two sets of practical training one with MOD (Navy) and second with MOD(Army). Thus, the reason to trained to be train the wardens.
To Alan's questions, yes to all and I construct my lecture starting with basic law, fire triangle, combutible material, types of extinguishers and the couple of videos as per Ian's statement.
The H&S manger's objection rests of legality i.e. should things go wrong or incase of injury who will be held responsible.
Thanks

Unfortunately, neither the Health & Safety at Work 1974 or the Regulatory Reform (Fire safety) Order 2005 goes into great detail regarding fire training.

A company might well operate a policy where they advise against anyone tackling a fire ... the "GET OUT, STAY OUT" stance however, as Alan has rightly stated, you can't beat "hands on" experience. It would be like putting a chocolate egg in front of the 5 year old and expecting it not to be eaten.

A 30 minute DVD entitled STOP IT BURNING might prove just as well to one organisation, but not to another and having delivered Annual fire training on a weekly basis for the past 23 years, standards in training (and their contents) continue to improve as major companies invest in "their people".

Personally (and no offence), I would not expect a Fire Warden to give annual fire training.

Going into a little more detail;


What is the role of a fire warden?

A fire warden will effectively have two roles: a day-to-day role and one for when the fire alarm sounds.
Day-to-day role:

• To keep an eye on the general fire safety of the area, building or floor the warden has been allocated.

• Keep an eye on corridors and walkways to ensure combustible materials are not stored there.

• Monitor escape routes to see they are kept free of obstructions.

• Check that fire doors are not tied, propped or wedged open where they should not be.

• To check that final exit doors are not obstructed.

• To check that extinguishers are where they should be and no obvious misuse or defect has occurred.

• During scheduled fire alarm tests over a period of weeks or months, check that the alarm can be heard in all rooms and all parts of their allocated area.

• Possibly assist with the creation of personal emergency evacuation plans (PEEPs) if requested by their manager or Departmental Head.

• Possibly assist with fire risk assessments (FRA) if requested by the DSA or whoever carries out the FRA.

This may seem like a lot of extra work but in reality it can be done as part of the “day job” just by being a little more observant. Any problems or defects need to be reported to the appropriate person, be that the DSA for “User” problems or the Building Services Helpdesk for buildings-related issues.

Role when the fire alarm sounds:

• Put on the yellow high-visibility vest or armband.

• Sweep through their allocated area, turning off equipment and closing doors/windows in passing but not delaying their own escape unduly, while encouraging people to leave via the nearest fire escape route. The fire warden should normally be the last person off their floor.

• Checking all accessible rooms including toilets and offices to make sure people are beginning their evacuation.

• Checking any refuge in their area in case someone is waiting for assistance to evacuate.

• Reporting to the person in charge of the evacuation, at the assembly area or just outside the building, to advise their area is clear (or to report anyone who can’t or won’t leave the building).

• To assist the officer in charge with crowd control, verbally encouraging people towards the assembly area.

• To take part in any post-alarm de-briefing to identify any shortcomings in the evacuation procedures.

Departments may want their fire wardens to do other things in addition to the roles outlined above.

What extra responsibilities does a fire warden have?

From the actions listed above, a fire warden will not take on any additional responsibility for fire safety. That remains with the Departmental Manager / Head of Department.

Who is responsible for providing fire wardens?

The Head of Department is responsible for fire safety. Day-to-day activities and the practical actions of fire safety may be delegated to the DSA or other nominated person. In practice it is likely to be the DSA or similar who makes sure there are enough fire wardens for the building. Where buildings are jointly used the respective DSAs must co-ordinate this to ensure adequate coverage. If a fire warden permanently leaves the building a replacement should be found and trained.

How many fire wardens are needed in a building?

Ideally there should be sufficient wardens to cover all areas of a building. However, this is complicated by the size of a building and the complexity of its layout, plus the nature of peoples’ work as it often takes them out of their own building. Add to this scheduled holiday and other absences and it becomes apparent quite a few wardens could be needed. As a rule of thumb, if a floor or area takes longer than three minutes to sweep, there needs to be more fire wardens.

Here are two examples;

• A small building with a single staircase and offices etc off may only need one fire warden if that warden is stationed on the top floor and rarely leaves the building. A deputy is needed to cover for absences. Ensuring all staff know their role and responsibilities in a fire alarm will make the warden’s role less onerous.

• A large building with lots of rooms and complicated escape routes may need to have each floor divided into sweep areas and a fire warden, plus deputy, provided for each sweep area. This can only work where there are sufficient staff in the building so again, all occupants need to know their roles and responsibilities with respect to fire alarm procedures.

What if there are not enough people to act as fire wardens?

Any organisation must do the best it can with the resources it has. Therefore, if there are too few people to act as fire wardens it is imperative that building occupants are given basic fire safety training and know what to do when the fire alarm sounds. Failure to act correctly when a fire alarm sounds could have serious, possibly life-threatening consequences if there is a real fire.

Where only a few people can act as fire wardens, they should ensure other occupants are aware of their own responsibilities. Effectively, everyone in the building then acts as an unofficial fire warden and looks out for everyone else.

What happens if the fire warden is not on their floor when the alarm sounds?

In a nutshell, if the fire warden is out of their area when the alarm sounds they must report to the officer in charge to advise they have not swept their area. This is less of a problem when all occupants know what to do and act appropriately. The officer in charge will need to record this fact and, if the Brigade are called, pass that information to the chief fire officer so he can decide what to do.

Not sure if this as helped any, but it's my understanding of the role ... nothing about giving Annual Fire Training.

Regards,

Ian

Anoop,
Any certificate of training is better than nothing but it all depends on the quality of the course - you need to ask yourself these questions:

1. Was the course intended for this purpose?
2. Was the content appropriate?
3. Was there an exam to prove that you had taken onboard what you had learnt?
4. Do you feel confident to train and pass on this knowledge?

If you are confident that you can answer all of these questions in a positive light and you didn't get ant adverse reactions from the courses that you have already undertaken then I can't understand why your H&S Manager is objecting. Does he have a specific rreason?

Regards

Alan

Hello all, Can I ask a question? I did an In-House Fire warden Trainer course with a Fire and Rescue brigade and received a certificate. I conducted two training sessions for our client but now my H&S manager says this is wrong.
So, how good is this certificate to provide legal indemnities and Could Ford go through this route and get someone trained in-house?

Ford,
There is no substitute for "hands on" training as many people have highlighted, however it really is horses for courses and what may be suitable for one company may not suit others.

Firstly you need to look at the risk and decide what level of training is required and I know that this was the subject of your question but you have not provided enough detail for a judgement to be made - if you work in a firework factory the need would be quite different to someone working in a small corner shop so perhaps your first action should be to speak to the person that carried out the FRA.

When this has been done the second thing that you need to do is to source an appropriate company or individual to carry out the training. Try to get a number of quotes and if you can obtain any personal recommendations from other companies that you trust and don't always go for the cheapest.

Hope this helps but if not feel free to get in touch.

Regards
Alan

I had practical Fire Safety Training with my last employer who recrutied an external trainer. He had a "solution" that could be relit each time after someone had discharged a co2 extinguisher, and was carried out in a safe area.
Does anyone have any suggestions for this safe solution?

"Forget thinking along the litigation argument route & 'box-ticking'; hands-on training for the use of Fire Extinguishers and Blankets may one day actually save a life."

Well said Phil - there was a similar debate on another forum/thread about just using DVDs - I think the fact we are dealing with potentially life (and business) saving equipment tends to get lost sometimes. DVDs are good for background information before the main 'hands-on' event. Wrong analogy I know but you wouldn't drve a car on the road having only watched Top gear.

I would definitely recommend getting a Fire Training contractor in.
We've recently had this, and the guy was quite good, He had a little trailer where he could set mock fires,

Forget thinking along the litigation argument route & 'box-ticking'; hands-on training for the use of Fire Extinguishers and Blankets may one day actually save a life.

I'm arranging training for all our fire wardens as this was last completed formally 3 years ago, however as the FSRA requires regular training for all staff, I'm not sure what this should consist of, does this need to be provided externally or just consist of going through our emergency plan or a powerpoint presentation, DVD etc.

Any recommendations would be gratefully appreciated.