Good morning all.  I am looking for any assistance/guidance on plans/ideas for fire marshals when staff return on a hybrid working system please?  We have been looking for a system and struggling to find a solid solution?  We are planning for staff to return on a three day a week, days can alternate for all staff but to track who will be in on which days to cover each area is proving a bit of a task.  Pre Covid we had a radio system in place with 3 trained fire marshals in each area (84 in total for a capacity of around 2000) to ensure cover but to track who will be in on each day when staff return will be a task.  The 3 fire marshals liaise with each other to ensure cover and collect the radio at reception and that way we had a log of all covered areas.

Just wondering if you have any plans in place or can advise what you propose to do?  Have also seen a mention of evacuation coordinators/marshals who can just assist with evacuating areas?  If this is a thing what kind of training is required?  Do they need to do the full fire marshal course and what training is available?

Your input would be greatly appreciated!

The best solution to this ( and it is used  in a number of large organisations including Whitehall) is to train EVERYONE as a fire marshal/warden. By fire marshal/warden I am refering to the role described by Kate; not fire fighters or someone who monitors fire precautions; simply someone who makes sure that everyone is out of the building and that they stay out until it is safe to return.

You have a grab bag next to the exit containing a Hi-Viz jackets, suitable labelled plus maps plans etc a communications dev and a possibly a megaphone. First one there is it and becomes the fire marshal(s).    

The training I've previously done for fire marshals took somewhere between one and two hours.  It was entirely customised to their role and local arrangements.

It didn't include inspecting fire precautions or assessing PEEPs as these weren't part of their role - their role was what you are calling evacuation marshal or coordinator.  Given the arrangements you have in place in your organisation it may make sense to have a distinction between fire marshal and evacuation marshal, or possibly that will just cause confusion, I'm not sure which.

Off the top of my head and in no particular order the topics in it were:

Any worries they have about the role

What a (fire) marshal is and isn't expected to do

What to do step by step according to local procedures when the alarm sounds (including where to get the kit as described by AK)

What to do in a smoke-filled room

What to do if trapped by a fire

The types of fire extinguishers, the dangers of each, when and how to use them, when not to use them (walk round and show how to take the pin out etc, not an actual practice)

The escape routes and refuges in the area (walk round)

How to operate the evacuation lifts (practice)

Using the radios (practice to give familiarity)

How to assist someone in need including lost visitors and people with disabilities

What a PEEP is and the arrangements for formulating and communicating them

What happens at the assembly point and how to keep people safe there

What to expect and do when the fire brigade arrives

Edited by user 14 January 2022 12:21:40(UTC)  | Reason: Not specified

We have nearly 8,000 staff so training everyone was not an option. There were insufficient  resources to do so and the training, plus how can you achieve face to face training in a covid secure manner for 1000s of staff?  

So instead we have increased the number of Marshalls by between 100% and 200% depending on the risk in that premises. Our strategy is a best endevours approach where we believe 80% of the premises will be covered at all times.

In addition, we have issued revised evacuation procedures which talk about looking after each other and asking staff to check quiet areas (icluding loos) as they leave. This mimmicks the fire service's 'safe person approach' where they train the person to be safe rather than altering the environment (which of course they cant do). Our strategy is a mix of pre planned procedures and safe person concept  Its not ideal, but we ran it past our enforcement authority and they are content as long as we do extra drills - three per year - where they will observe the first one in March.

When I mentioned that EVERYONE is trained as fire marshal, I was not referring to some small bijoux employer but the Civil Service and in particular large offices on or near Whitehall.  Possibly they can find the time to do the training more easily than some employers and it is not perfect but can be done and it means they are more likely to have fire marshal coverage 24/7.

Originally Posted by: A Kurdziel

When I mentioned that EVERYONE is trained as fire marshal, I was not referring to some small bijoux employer but the Civil Service and in particular large offices on or near Whitehall.  Possibly they can find the time to do the training more easily than some employers and it is not perfect but can be done and it means they are more likely to have fire marshal coverage 24/7.

Yes, you would think economy of scale would make it easier, but with tight budgets, there is little scope for additional training in many departments. Plus with room capacities limited, you have to do twice as much training to get the same amount of staff trained as you would have before covid.  And as for 'they can find more time'? I am not sure why the Civil Service would be seen to have so much slack time? Contrary to the media image, most of us are not partying and taking suitacses of wine into the office. We have less staff in the office, many are doing more work that business as ususal . So filling training courses is much harder than it was 

“Everyone is responsible'” is a great idea  but I can imagine some people  feeling that means everybody else is responsible but does not mean we can’t try to make it work otherwise we end with a small group of enthusiasts doing all of the heavy lifting. But that is not just H&S safety issue but something that relates to any activity :slopey shoulders pop up everywhere.

As to special areas: access to those areas should be restricted to authorised personal and the departments in charge of those people should have some sort of lone/isolated working policy anyway and they should be aware of location of their staff and the staff should be very well versed in evacuation procedures. Normally during an evacuation most people want to get out the sweep is more a matter of checking where people are, not rounding them.