Our employees have been through an e learning module on fire awareness which covers the basic use of fire extinguishers etc, no practical training has been given. We do have fire wardens who have had more in depth and practical training on the use of extinguishers. A small contained fire broke out in a control panel and the operator did not use the extinguisher stating that he had not been trained in their use. The fire was put out without any great damage by a third party, but it could have been worse. A fire risk assessment has been carried out in the area and the correct fire extiguishers are in place. What advice or instructions can we give to our workforce faced with a similar situation.

It's not a legal requirement to have practical training in the use of extinguishers, however some would say best practice. I don't agree how does standing in a yard with someone with simulator operated by gas give you the necessary skills opposed to watching it on a screen. All your doing is giving them ago it's not even like they are in a realistis situation, oh it does help it lets them find out how loud the CO2 is. Someone will tell me I'm sure

No a problem Invictus, I think we were in basic agreement. Have to say I found "having a go" with different extinguishers useful, as you say the sound of some, and the pressure needed to depress some of the handles was a bit of a surprise. have also tried to use one of the small extinguishers they sell for vehicles - would have had more effect spitting on the fire. But yes I would not consider myself trained as a fire fighter and if anyone told me I should try and put out an office fire I felt uncomfortable with just because I have had a go I think they would be shocked by my response!

It seems to me that if staff are only trained to a 'show & tell' level, it's commensurate with ensuring staff have some idea how to use extinguishers to aid their escape - say if their MOE was blocked by a fire. A responsible person have a blooming nerve if they expect staff with such minimal training to firefight any incident Is a fire in a control panel, with toxic gases and the potential for live electrics, a small & simple fire? I think not This employee appears to have made the decision that he or she was not confident to deal with this incident and walked away. That is exactly how we train our staff! He should be praised and the details of the incident used in staff training as an exemplar of staff firefighting

Wholly unrealistic expectation even of your fire wardens. Having started in an industry prone to fires we had a well trained "fire team" who as part of their employment were expected to handle low risk fires to prevent spread whilst the fire bobbies arrived (land rover fire engine, BA sets and training exercises with the local station crews) Most other staff (as you are describing) had hands on extinguisher training ONLY to aid their escape should a route be blocked by fire. It was implicit in their training to get out, stay out and call the brigade out. It was even a dismissible offence for a non fire team member to attempt to tackle any fire based on the thought process if they put themselves in danger then brigade officers would need to do more to rescue them. Nothing more dangerous than the well meaning amature - plenty of examples of lost lives and devastated families due to have a go heroes. So a fire in an electrical cabinet - did they have BA for the noxious fumes from burning cable insulation and other plastic components (look at Section 5 of most SDS and SCBA is recommended)? Could they physically access the seat of fire? Most control panels I have seen are locked to prevent electrocution from intended operation.

Sound the Alarm. Close the door. (or vice versa if no break glass in the room) Get out. Inform your Warden/roll call volunteer of the location of the fire (if no auto detection and control panel.)