Fire Wardens in the Workplace?
Fire Safety in the Workplace
With approximately 243 fire-related fatalities being recorded in the year ending September 2021 (Gov.uk, Feb 2022), fire safety is inarguably one of the most important factors businesses should consider in their workplace.
Not only are there certain legal requirements to meet to minimise the risk of a fire, but compliant fire training and reinforced fire safety rules can ensure the protection of staff and the general public and safety procedures need to be clearly defined.
Training fire wardens and fire marshals in your building can be an integral part of your business’s fire strategy to prepare and protect against the worst. But, how many fire wardens should there be in your workplace?
Is it a Legal Requirement to Have a Fire Warden?
Due to the seriousness of the risk of a fire, it is a legal requirement to have a fire warden in your workplace (Regulatory Reform (Fire Safety) Order 2005). This individual will need to undergo certified training, such as the fire safety courses offered at A&E.
Your designated fire wardens will be responsible for mitigating the damages that could be caused in the workplace in the unfortunate event of a fire and will be trained on how to react efficiently in an emergency. The number of fire marshals your business will need to have certified will be unique to your building and workforce.
What Factors can Influence the Number of Required Fire Wardens?
Despite how efficient your fire warden might be in their responsibilities, one person can only do so much. Every business is unique and some may have other factors to consider that put them at higher risk during a fire. For this reason, more than one certified fire marshal may be required to minimise these risks.
Some of the key factors that impact the number of trained fire wardens you might need in your workplace can include:
- The number of employees
- The size of your premises
- The types of occupants
- The nature of work
- The type of workplace
- Cover for any absences and shifts
If you need more assistance to determine the number of fire wardens/fire marshals needed in your workplace to ensure the safety of your staff, please don’t hesitate to get in touch. Our experts are available to provide further advice on the potential risks unique to your space.
How Many Fire Wardens Should There be in Your Workplace?
The aforementioned factors are key to identifying the level of fire risks in your building. In general, a workplace can be labelled as one of three classifications: low-risk premises, medium risk premises or high-risk premises. Once established, you’ll be able to outline the number of fire wardens needed to provide sufficient fire safety to your workspace.
To determine the risk level of your building, you will need to carry out a fire risk assessment. This can be done internally using standard fire safety risk assessment guides, or through a fire risk assessment carried out by professionals such as our specialists at A&E. Our experts will ensure a thorough and accurate inspection to provide the best fire safety solutions for your business.
Low-Risk Premises
As the name suggests, a low-risk area will have been assessed to have minimal influences that pose a threat to ignition or serious damage in a fire. What’s more, a low-risk building should have measures in place that allow individuals to react in time in the event of a fire.
In a low-risk workplace, you might expect:
- Minimal combustible materials
- Minimal flammable substances
- Minimal sources of heat
- An abundance of clear fire exits
- Plenty of fire detection systems and safety equipment
If your building is assessed as low risk, our experts recommend 1 fire warden for every 50 people in the premises.
Medium Risk Premises
Most medium risk workplaces will have factors that are commonly acknowledged to cause fires, however, this is likely to be easy to confine or contain. There will be minimal fire measures in place that should allow a fair opportunity for individuals to react safely.
In a medium risk workplace, you might expect:
- Combustible materials
- Flammable substance
- Sources of heat
- A couple of clear fire exits
- Fire detection systems and safety equipment
If your building is assessed as medium risk, our experts recommend 1 fire warden for every 20 people in the premises.
High-Risk Premises
High risk workplaces are at extreme risk of fire and pose a serious risk to life. These flammable workspaces provide minimal reaction time for individuals to evacuate. This is often impacted by the speed at which a fire is able to start and spread in that environment.
In a high-risk workplace, you might expect:
- Highly combustible materials
- Highly flammable substances
- Plenty of extreme sources of heat
- Little to no fire exits
- Complex building structures
- Vulnerable occupants such as the elderly, children or those with disabilities
If your building is assessed as high risk, our experts recommend 1 fire warden for every 15 people in the premises.
Please note, these are generalisations and the risk level in your workplace is entirely unique. This means that the number of fire wardens per individual in the premises will be bespoke to your business.
For help assessing the risk of fire in your workplace or for training courses for fire marshals, please contact our team.
Responsibilities of Fire Wardens
In general, the fire warden in your workplace is responsible for minimising the risk of a fire occurring and providing safety to the workforce should a fire start. Their duties can range from daily tasks to ensure fire safety rules are reinforced to taking the lead in an emergency fire procedure.
Typically, the responsibilities of a fire warden include:
- Checking fire detection systems — Whether they are assessing the number of fire extinguishers required in a building or checking a smoke detector is fully functioning, the fire marshal needs to ensure efficient measures are in place to detect a fire early on and react in time.
- Conducting regular fire risk assessments — A fire marshal might have the task of conducting regular fire risk assessments to review the workforce’s evacuation process. From this, they can assess where any improvements can be made and enforce any new regulations.
- Regular fire safety checks — From something as simple as closing a fire door to a practice fire drill with a headcount, the fire warden will likely have a list of efficient fire strategies to oversee and minimise risks.
- Promoting fire safety awareness — A fire warden will often be held responsible for promoting fire safety rules within the workplace, ensuring that every individual is aware of the risks and what can be done to minimise them. It’s up to them whether this is through frequent meetings, an external fire protection consultant like our team at A&E, or informal reminders.
- Correspondence with emergency services — If a fire does occur, the certified fire marshals will be trained on how to efficiently respond, including contacting the emergency services to mitigate the situation.
The duties of a fire marshal will vary depending on the type of workplace and the risk level category it falls into. If more than one fire marshal is required, the responsibilities can be shared across the team.
How to Ensure Your Fire Wardens are Adequately Prepared
The best way to ensure your fire wardens are adequately prepared to mitigate a fire is through regular training.
Around 2000 fires were recorded from the misuse of fire equipment from 2013 to 2014 in the UK, demonstrating the imperative need for regular fire safety training. In fact, professional fire training, such as our Fire Marshal and Fire Warden Training Course, teaches individuals the legislation that supports fire safety at work, the ability to identify fire hazard, practical fire fighting skills and much more to build a fire warden’s confidence and ability to react to fire.
Once you have completed fire warden training, you should receive a certificate. This will have a renewal date indicating when further training should be provided as a refresher, however, it’s generally acknowledged that this happens every 3 years.
In addition to our in-house fire warden training course, our fire experts recommend training in people management, stress management and additional safety and emergency procedures such as first aid to ensure your fire marshals are equipped to react in the most efficient way.
Practical Fire Warden Training
Hopefully, your business will never have to experience a fire emergency, however, it’s always good to be prepared. One way to ensure the safety and protection of your workplace is by investing in dedicated fire marshals with practical fire warden training.
At A&E, we have over 20 years of experience in fire safety and training services. Our 3 hour Fire Warden & Marshal Training Course could benefit your fire wardens and business by providing live-fire practical demonstrations and developing skills needed to protect your business, property and people. Our training courses can be held at our facility or your place of work and are in accordance with the legal requirements (The Regulatory Reform (Fire Safety) Order 2005, section 21).
If you would like to learn more about Fire Training or our Fire Marshal & Warden Training Course, or if you have any other questions, we welcome you to contact us or give our experts a call on 01452 712021.