Ensuring your staff have all the safety information they need is a vital way that you can prevent fires in your workplace. Fire safety training is therefore a key requirement outlined in the Regulatory Reform (Fire Safety) Order 2005 (RRO), an official government safety standard for non-domestic buildings. The RRO, now bolstered by the Fire Safety (England) Regulations 2022, places a clear legal duty on the ‘Responsible Person’ to ensure that all employees are provided with adequate and appropriate training.
However, many of those responsible for arranging the training are unaware of how often it should be carried out. To guide you, our experts have rounded up the most frequently asked questions and answering how often should fire safety training be carried out.
Fire safety training should be carried out with your staff every 12 months. This annual refresher is considered the absolute minimum to maintain competency and compliance. In some circumstances, you should provide additional training. Factors that may prompt this include:
By consistently providing annual training, you can effectively refresh the knowledge of your team on fire safety. That way, you can be assured that they will act appropriately in the event of a fire breaking out at work.
As the responsible person within your organisation, you are required to log all training sessions and acquire a completion certificate for each. This documentation is essential to prove that you are fulfilling your training responsibilities, as advised under the Regulatory Reform (Fire Safety) Order. This documentation also links directly to business continuity planning, which is a key component of protecting your operations.
In addition to a general fire awareness course, more specific fire safety training courses can be provided by BusinessWatch. These courses can boost knowledge in particular areas relating to your fire safety strategy. Specialist training available includes fire warden training, fire extinguisher training and fire door inspection training. The importance of having trained Fire Wardens cannot be overstated; they are your on-site champions responsible for managing evacuations effectively, as detailed in our guide to creating fire safety champions.
![[Image of a green fire exit sign]](https://www.businesswatchgroup.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2020/03/Fire-exit-sign-300x200.jpg)
Moving premises represents a fundamental change to your business environment, which triggers a mandatory review of your entire safety strategy. In the event that your business moves to new premises, you will need to:
It is vital to understand that an existing fire risk assessment from a previous location is not valid for a new site. Every building has different fire safety challenges, from compartmentation issues in older buildings to the presence of specific hazards in industrial or factory settings. Therefore, a new, comprehensive assessment and subsequent staff training specific to the new environment must be among the first actions taken. Failure to do so exposes the business to significant legal risk, as recent high-profile cases have highlighted the strict penalties for non-compliance with fire safety laws in the UK.
In general, your day-to-day workforce should be trained once every 12 months on fire safety. However, it’s important to consider staff turnover and the specific risks of your sector, such as in the office environment, when assessing training needs. Here are four factors that may influence a review of training requirements:
Information about your fire safety policy, including your evacuation plan, should be communicated to new staff members during their induction programme. They should also be included in the annual training refresher course. It’s important to note that staff should not be expected to wait a full year for training if they join mid-cycle. All new employees must receive basic fire awareness training upon commencing employment, making them aware of the location of fire-fighting equipment, escape routes, and the emergency alarm procedure. This induction training is a non-negotiable step in maintaining a safe workplace.
As a general rule of thumb, you should ensure that you have one fully trained fire warden in place for every 20 people that you employ. However, the exact ratio may need to be higher based on the complexity of the premises, the risk level (e.g., in a manufacturing or food facility), and the mobility of the occupants.
It is particularly important that night staff receive fire training, especially if they work in the hospitality industry or in environments like leisure centres or care homes. This is because there is a higher risk to life, should a fire break out whilst occupants are sleeping or operating with minimal supervision. Night shift operations often present unique challenges:
As an absolute minimum, those working night shifts should receive fire safety training once a year. However, it’s essential that you assess the safety knowledge of each individual and provide more training if required. This training must specifically address the night-time fire plan, including the procedure for initiating the fire alarm, the use of emergency lighting, and the protocol for managing sleeping occupants or securing premises after hours, a critical part of securing business premises after hours.
You should also make sure that all new members of staff working overnight are well versed in your fire evacuation plan and general fire safety strategy, treating this induction as immediately mandatory. Given the heightened risks during these hours, the training for night staff should ideally be conducted during their normal working hours to ensure the drill and scenarios are as realistic as possible.
BusinessWatch are a one-stop shop for your fire safety and security requirements. As well as providing essential fire safety and security equipment to hundreds of UK businesses, we are also an IFE recognised provider of fire risk assessments and fire safety training. We deliver accredited, on-site training to ensure your business remains compliant and your staff are prepared for any emergency.
Contact our friendly and knowledgeable team today for complimentary advice on your fire safety strategy. We can also provide a free quote, for your training requirements.
