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Fire safety training: A vital component for care sector employees
Fire training is a legal obligation to ensure that your organisation complies with the Regulatory Reform (Fire Safety) Order. CMM explores approaches to training that will allow you and your staff to react in the event of a fire, and possibly saving the lives of residents in the process.
Recently, an inquest heard that a care assistant, working in a nursing home where an elderly resident died in a fire, had never taken part in a fire evacuation drill during her ten years at the home.
The inquest was told that, during the fire emergency, visibility was poor due to smoke-filled corridors so agitated residents queued at a stairwell as they could not leave the building unaided. In the confusion a bed-ridden resident, aged 89, was not accounted for and as a result sustained fatal 70 per cent burns before she was found. At the inquest into her death, the senior care assistant admitted: ‘I never thought about her.’ She also claimed that she had not received adequate training for such an emergency.
Importance of training
With deaths from fires in UK care homes continuing to hit the headlines, the cause of these tragedies is often identified as poor training of staff in fire safety routines.
Tom Welland, Fire Services Manager at Fireco Ltd., advises that fire safety training is a vital part of a managers’ responsibilities to ensure compliance with the latest fire safety legislation. ‘First and foremost your staff members are employed to provide care to your residents and fully trained carers are your most valuable asset when it comes to reducing the chance and effects of fire.
‘The need to provide continued and up-to-date staff training in Fire Safety Awareness is a legal requirement that cannot be ignored. And with current statistics showing that on average, three people die each year and a further 84 are injured in care home fires, the increasing complexities of this issue really can’t be ignored.’
It’s important to remember that the Regulatory Reform (Fire Safety) Order 2005 (RRFSO) states that you must provide adequate fire safety training for all your staff, covering all apparent risks and problems that are associated with the running of a care home. All your employees must fully understand what is required of them.
Fire safety considerations
Do your employees know what fire precautions they should take?
Do they know what to do on discovering a fire?
Do they know what to do in the event of an emergency and how to evacuate your building, premises or facility safely?
If you answered 'no' to any of the above then your home may be in breach of the RRFSO and could be prosecuted, fined, served a notice or be exposed to significant legal claims. The provision of training is not a matter of choice or optional, it is an absolute legal requirement.
Types of training
Whatever form of fire training you choose it’s vital to choose a professional training package that is produced and delivered by qualified, experienced senior fire service personnel who have obtained national standards of competency in training and development.
There are a wide range of fire safety training courses available to the care sector and many aspects of these will vary depending on the specific needs of each care home and the provider of the training. Fire safety training for the care sector typically falls into two categories; fire safety awareness training for employees and agency staff and fire risk assessment training for the responsible person(s).
Fire Safety Awareness Training for employees and agency staff it is designed to ensure that all employees are aware of fire and their duties and responsibilities in the event of a fire. Common causes of fire, the function of fire doors and the buildings automatic detection system and good housekeeping. Staff are shown the major role they can play in preventing fires from starting in their workplace, by observing simple fire safety measures as part of their normal daily routine. This training can help to avoid tragic situations like the one detailed above.
Fire Risk Assessment Training is designed for those nominated as the ‘responsible person(s)’ under fire safety legislation, also those persons who have an interest in the functions of fire safety risk assessments either from a general management or an enforcement authority perspective. This training provides awareness, appreciation and practical application of fire safety risk assessments in the workplace carried out as part of existing and future legislation on fire safety in the workplace.
A risk assessment can be a challenging task even for a seasoned professional as there is a lot of underpinning knowledge required to ensure all aspects of a risk assessment are identified.
Training can be delivered in your organisation, off site or via e-learning. Many training providers are able to tailor training to your organisation’s needs and should be within the requirements of the RRFSO. Some include a mix of theory and practice to give an interactive approach to fire training.
Online Fire Safety Awareness Training is designed to engage and involve the user by using a blend of workplace simulations such as interactive activities, audio, images and text. These courses are designed to maintain the user's involvement throughout, ensuring that they regularly interact with and apply the material being learnt.
Providing fire safety training online and monitoring staff progress contributes to fulfilling ‘duty of care’ obligations to staff. Systematic online training can also enable the workforce to maintain the level of compliance required by regulatory duties.
For more information contact Fireco on 0845 241 7474, e-mail services@firecoltd.com.