Posted By Jane Ling I would be grateful for some advice on what level of fire awareness training with regard to the use of extinguishers we should be providing. At the moment we have been providing a course which includes showing staff the different extinguishers and what they are used for etc. A Manager has approached me to say that she wants all her staff to have had hands on training (actually using an extinguisher). We are a housing association who provide care in small group homes and there are different staff on shift all the time so training just one or two isn't an option. We have 600 staff with a high turnover plus a number of relief staff who are called upon to cover holidays and sickness etc. I don't know if this is necessary. Any views welcome. Jane

Posted By Sean Fraser Jane, I'm curious - what was wrong with the responses given to this exact same post less than a month ago? http://www.iosh.co.uk/in...view&Forum=1&Thread=8446

Posted By Sean Fraser You're right Andy - I was genuinely curious if we hadn't answered Jane's question to her satisfaction, which is why she felt the need to ask it again. I read the responses too and felt that the answer was - can't be prove either way! We have had opposing views by two qualified and experienced fire professionals, one who says don't and the other who says go ahead. Very confusing! To be honest Jane, if you were looking for a definitive answer wither way then we have failed you, but not because we don't know the answer, more because it depends on your viewpoint. Personally, I have the best of both worlds. I do not advocate teaching people to fight fires but instead follow the edict "get out and stay out". As a result, none of our office staff have received extinguisher training. But we operate offshore and as part of the statutory survivial training, personnel must have received fire-fighting training. Since the office always has people who are offshore-capable on site, should a fire break out we have people who could, if they decided it was safe to do so, attempt to limit the initial spread by using the otherwise defunct extinguishers. I endorse the response given in the previous thread regarding specified "fire fighters" (or however you wish to term them) - dedicated, in-depth training on assessing the fire, use of the extinguishers and limitations would be once way to offset your concerns about no-one being trained but reduce overall costs by not having everyone trained. Best advice would seem to be to contact your ensurer and ask for their advice - if you can go through your risk assessment with them then they will either agree with your findings or advise you on any specific measures. After all, our advice doesn't have a direct effect on your business should a fire event take place - but your insurer will!

Posted By Jane Ling I posted my last response prior to seeing Sean's latest posting. I think this should be another lesson: Beware it is difficult to tell what tone the writer of E mails is intending to use. What sounds like an innocent enquiry to the writer can be read as a judgemental comment. And secondly, do not respond to what you perceive as a judgemental comment too quickly, read it again first to be sure you have not misjudged the tone. Jane