Posted By Steven I have been told previously that it is a requirement to have nominated staff trained in the use of fire extinguishers. Training has lapsed in this field and I have some doubts on whether this is required in certain areas. If the fire RA identifies a need to have employees trained in the use of fire extinguishers then I have not got a problem with the training. The question is how many would you train, what ratio of staff would you want to be trained? Opinions appreciated. Steve

Posted By Tabs I have to agree, sadly "it depends" ... rules of thumb: The more likely a fire is, the more I would train I would train anyone routinely working alone on site (security / cleaners) Anyone whose escape route is less than perfect, or only has one initial route Anyone you send to investigate alarms (security) Anyone involved in hot works Kitchen managers Loading bay / parking area people sorry, seems a longer list than I intended.

Posted By Ron Young We don't train our staff at all and this has met with conflicting responses from the Fire Authorities but to date none have told me to train anyone.

Posted By Paul Oliver I fully agree with Adrian, training does not have to include setting fire extinguishers off. Your fire risk asesssment should ensure that suitable equipment is availalbe at all exit points to aid escape.

Posted By Ian Hurley We train all our pers in fire awareness, and show them how to use an extinguisher , however we also stress that they should only tackle fires if confident ,and that fire fighting is best left to the fire brigade

Posted By AJM Surely if you have fire wardens which you should have under the new fire reforms legislation coming in October. Then as we have here they are trained in the use of extinguishers anyway. The rest of the staff just require fire awareness training. Asas previously stated the Fire risk assessment is the cornerstone to all of it and dependant on the industry or work area suitable and sufficient. In my humble opinion it is going the same way as legionella risk assessments etc and going down the route of a specialist field. The new regulations are in in October so people might as well get using them now. The relevant part to do with training states. Training 21. —(1) The responsible person must ensure that his employees are provided with adequate safety training— (a) at the time when they are first employed; 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 responsible person's undertaking; (ii) the introduction of new work equipment into, or a change respecting work equipment already in use within, the responsible person's undertaking; (iii) the introduction of new technology into the responsible person'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 responsible person's undertaking. (2) The training referred to in paragraph (1) must— (a) include suitable and sufficient instruction and training on the appropriate precautions and actions to be taken by the employee in order to safeguard himself and other relevant persons on the premises; (b) be repeated periodically where appropriate; (c) be adapted to take account of any new or changed risks to the safety of the employees concerned; (d) be provided in a manner appropriate to the risk identified by the risk assessment; and (e) take place during working hours. Thats what i have always been led to believe anyway.

Posted By Mark Eden With regard to your question I sugest you look at the new Regulatory Reform (Fire Safety) Order 2005 SI 2005 No. 1541. Part Two section 13 Fire-fighting & Fire Detection. "The responsible person must, where necessary - (a) take measures for fire-fighting in the premises. (b) nominate competent persons to implement those measures. There is a lot more detail in the order but the way it reads is that if a fire risk assessment deems it necessary to have fire extinguishers then you need to have trained personnel to use them.

Posted By Steven Just a quick follow up on the training issue. What type of training, if any, would you require to be competent in giving “basic operating procedures for equipment provided” Are there courses available for training the trainer on fire extinguisher use? Steve

Posted By Steven I have arranged fire extinguisher training for certain staf in certain areas and realise it depends on the work environment, i am trying to to find a train the trainer course on fire extinguishers so that we are able to give the basic operating procedure of fire extinguishers to the rest of the staff. Some may have their opinions on this, but i feel that our current basic fire safety training, which is done during induction, is not sufficient and i want to upgrade the training without having to pay the cost of getting a company in to do fire awareness training. So if anyone is aware of any train the trainer courses in fire extinguisher/safety please pass on info. Many thanks Steve