In the building that I look after, approx 500 staff, there is no official Fire Safety Induction to new joiners, old staff members have not been officially trained either. Whereas there is a sufficient number of Fire Wardens and general Fire Safety is good, the inductions need to be looked at urgently. I am looking for advise on what's the best way?? - Does induction by all staff email to currect employees would be sufficient? (My understanding is no - as you can not guarantee that everyone read it) - All staff meeting or departmental meetings? - Hire a H&S consultant to do the initial induction 1 by 1? And generate the induction package for the future? Any views or comments would be greatly appreciated. Thank you in advance.

It may be a little late to "induct" everyone but never too late for fire safety training. I had a similar issue some years ago, but with 1800 employees who had not been updated in the evacuation procedures. With the support of senior management I arranged a 20 minute session that covered all salient points, everyone attended the training room in groups of 10 to 20 where I went through the procedure. Everyone recorded their names when attending and it went well. You have 500 staff, if you split them into groups of 20 it will only take 25 sessions. Less than one week to do them all that way. I like m's cartoon and it is a good way to go but may be a little too short for an initial induction? My opinion. The cartoon idea would be good for continuation training as short bursts sent to everyone's PC will keep them on their toes. Again my opinion.

I cover the following in the fire section of my induction: the devastating effect that fire would have on their work. How the detection system works (individually addressed heads, automatic, they register the location of the activation at the main panel, they set off the fire alarm in the specific building automatically and the fire brigade is immediately alerted by Security) The detectors' susceptibility to false alarm and how some of this is prevented. The evacuation procedure - shortest route out, go to assembly area. People are asked to make sure they know at least two routes out of their area. The location of the assembly areas, what they are and what they are not (places of safety). Where they would probably have to go in the event of a real fire The role of the fire wardens, since a roll call is impossible. The importance of compartmentation and ensuring the corridor doors can shut freely. The use of the fire alarm call points - e.g. if there is a smell of burning or a burning solvent that has not yet produced smoke Who is authorised to allow people back into the building after an alarm. How to get out through the external locked doors at night. Limiting the storage of large quantities of flammable liquids to the zoned areas. The importance of reporting missing fire extinguishers Where to get fire extinguisher training.

It looks like I have a couple of busy months ahead! Thanks for everyone's imput. I am meeting senior management next week, to discuss on action points. Still undecided if I will be doing this myself or to get a consultant to put all in place initially and then go alone after. Mostly due to workload and I would rather a professional did this. I am certified in IOSH Managing Safely, but not sure if this makes me competent in training on such a scale?

Following on from Janes list, I'd have aleast 10 minutes going through some basic fire prevention awareness too

In my work area Fire Awareness training is a mandatory annual training event for all employees. The video and powerpoint presentation takes about 40 minutes and covers The basic elements of fire How fires Start How fires spread Safety measures currently in place Evacuation procedures Fire detection and suppression systems in place The video (Which fie extinguisher from the Fire Protection Agency) Describes how to identify, select and use hand held fire extiguishers. Attendance fugures are recorded electronically on the companies QMS and hard copy archives signed by attendees are retained, and yes we do chase people who think they are too busy to attend.