Hi

I am working with a large office block that used to have 100s of staff onsite until hybrid working came in after COVID restrictions were lifted. They used to use fire wardens to ensure that the building was evauacted when the fire alarm went off but this is now diffucult as all staff hybrid work including the fire wardens. They do not use a roll call system and say that it would be difficult to implement with the hybrid working and the layout of the building.  Have any of you have dealings with a similar  setup and how have they managed fire evaucation?   The amount of people on site varies depending on the day. 

If the fire warden’s job is just to make sure that everybody is out you could simply make everybody a fire warden.  People simply evacuate and near the exit there is list of floors or areas. The first person there pick up the list and as the last people leave the list holder ask  them if their area clear. In a building with a 100 people this shouldn’t be that difficult but it might not work if you have  a 1000 to manage.  

The only real way is to seek more Fire Wardens. Even then it can be a nightmare. Whther its a good idea to train everyone depends on whther you have scores of staff or thousands  Our Head Office can hold 5000 persons and that can be increased to nearly 6,000 staff when you include those from other sites have access to the building. Add to that, its occupied 24/7/365 to varying degrees and when busy, staff can be moved around to other floors, its a nightmare.

We used a 2 x phased approach. We amended HR policies so that volunteering to be a Warden could be used as a favourable criteria in staff's annual appraisal. This made the position more favourable & increased motivation and numbers volunteering.

Then we used a Zoom type training package as an interim measure and have since replaced that with e-learning. This is less onerous than a face to face 3 hour session we used to do ​​​​​​​I can say with 100% certainty, that we will not cover all areas of the building during an evacuation - but hopefully 95% or more. Just a warning, if you are struggling with ensuring reliable numbers of Wardens are available at all times, how about those who help with the more challenging PEEPs? If you havent considered that, it might be time to carry out a review 

As above, large office now hybrid with no core hrs and in fact some 24/7 shift stuff. The replies above I agree with, something my FM lead is looking at is a system that can check security passes as they pass through doors, so it is possible to know where someone is and when they leave a part of a building. Currently my issue is actually the system knows which part of the building the card was last in - we've all left a security pass on a desk before. If we can get that sorted it's an extra layer but not a solution I would suggest

Or on the tannoy ( think the voice of Hal 9000)

Dave, you have been in front of Jane’s desk for 20 minutes, please report to HR.

Dave, you have been in the toilet for 20 minutes, we are deducting your wages.

Dave, leave the H&S person alone, we told you this is not a SAD building in the winter or any other time.

Some people may take offence at being monitored so closely.

I don't agree.  There are circumstances in which the balance between safety and freedom may be hotly debated, but there are no circumstances in which tomato ketchup could ever be considered acceptable on a bag of chips.