Fire Safety Training In the Work Place

Added: 14 Jul 2010 11:32 - Workplace Health and Safety

One of the most important factors about health and safety in the workplace is the issue of fire safety training. This area is often neglected with many employers finding induction and regular work place evacuation procedures as a burden on the workplace.

The reality in the long term is, should a fire break out in work place, all staff should have a very good understand of what the fire evacuation procedures are. Where they should, who the fire marshall is and of course an awareness how to help the whole situation by remaining professional and calm.

The most important factor to remember is that you are not required to fight fires, the professionals must be called in immediately to handle these situations. Even though fire extinguishers might be present in the work place they are normally only used in extremely situations where a path way needs to be created or of course in situations where extremely small fire hazards can be eliminated with relative ease. Fire extinguishers themselves can dangerous items when not used correctly, so again find out who has been trained to operate them.

If your company hasn’t undertaken a fire risk assessment recently then it is definitely time you arranged for this to happen. Employers have a duty of care for the staff they employ and work place conditions must be to a standard that ensures they are in the safest work environment possible, particularly if your work place involves the use of potentially hazardous materials. Many health and safety companies and fire stations offer fire safety training and advice on how to use fire extinguishers, check out your local directories or advise centres and get that assessment completed.