Posted By Chris121 The Fire Safety Risk Assessment Official Guide states the following as a minimum all staff should receive training about: • the items listed in your emergency plan; • the importance of fire doors and other basic fire-prevention measures; • where relevant, the appropriate use of firefighting equipment; • the importance of reporting to the assembly area; • exit routes and the operation of exit devices, including physically walking these routes; • general matters such as permitted smoking areas or restrictions on cooking other than in designated areas; and • assisting disabled persons where necessary. Case study Dependant on the size of your organisation I personally would arrange for formal training on the safe use of extinguishers for the key persons (i.e. fire marshals, managers etc) and then ensure that remaining staff are aware of their types and safe use by means of a suitable information poster/booklet and displaying the appropriate signage above each extinguisher.

Posted By garyh Typically you HSE inspector will say yes, train people in fire extinguisher use etc..... When you ask (I have, a bit impishly) "do you want them to fight fires then" - they will say "no". For sure. I sometimes think we should remove the requirement to provide extinguishers and concentrate on fire detection, tarining and means of escape....

Posted By shaun mckeever Bill I am a fire safety specialist. My view is that fire marshals should not specifically be the persons trained to use an extinguisher. Generally you train fire marshals to evacuate the building carrying out a sweep and then reporting to the fire service the status of their floor/area and provide other vital information to the fire service. They cannot do any of these if they are busy tackling a fire. In most circumstances you are required to provide portable firefighting equipment and if you provide the equipment then you are required to ensure some staff are trained in the use of the equipment. There is no law that can force trained users to tackle a fire. If they choose not to tackle a fire then that is their choice. Portable firefighting equipment is life safety equipment. It's primary purpose is to ensure that occupants can escape safely. It has an added bonus in that a fire nipped in the bud in the early stages can save the property and can ensure staff have a job to come back to the next day. It also reduces the risk to firefighters who may otherwise have to enter a building in which there is a well developed fire.

Posted By Manny There is a fire extiguisher in our corridor, if my waste paper bin starts to smolder I would use it but if a fire was beyond putting out with the extinguisher then I would leave it to the experts. Why have fire equipment in a building if people shouldn't use it? This is very similar to the question "If my work mate cuts his atery do I try to stem the blood or should I phone an ambulance and let the experts deal with it?" It would be interesting to know how many small fires had been extinguished by an employee thus preventing the loss of a building. Manny

Posted By Ken Taylor It has been estimated that the fire brigade are called to about 1 or 2 out of every 10 fires - so someone else deals with the others. A quick response by a trained person when safe to do so could save lives, jobs and businesses - presumably why there is a legal requirement to provide the means of extinguishing fires. I have provided training for as many groups of employees as management have allowed - including the hazards of smoke and other combustion products and the basis upon which decisions can be made as to whether to attempt to use an extinguisher. If you can't get all employees on a training session, you can encourage a cascade type approach together with informative literature.