A fire warden training involves multiple areas such as fire prevention, causes of fire, processes to follow in case of fire, use of fire fighting equipment, safety features, and emergency procedures. Fire warden training is a legal requirement in many states, and organisations need to have a trained fire warden for the safety of employees and business assets.
Also, some states require all the organisations to have an evacuation strategy to follow in case of emergencies like fires, earthquakes and other disasters. There are many things involved in fire warden training. This post shares all the basics of fire warden training those organisations can follow.
Selecting the wardens
The number of wardens an organisation should select depends on the total number of employees. A business should recruit one warden for every 50 employees as it would be sufficient. A warden with more than 50 persons under his direction may not be adequately able to account for them. Therefore, you should have one warden per 50 employees so that all the employees can be easily managed and evacuated during fires and similar emergencies.
Risk Assessment
Risk assessment is one of the most important aspects of fire warden training. A fire warden should know all the potential and existing risks that can cause a fire in an organisation. Moreover, they need to suggest the authorities fix or remove the risks associated with fire breakouts for the safety of employees and business assets. So, the first step in the fire warden training should be the assessment of existing and potential risks to be able to find the right solutions.
Response time
The response time is extremely important in the events of the fire. Wardens are trained to perform the evacuation and other responsibilities quickly as every second counts during fires. They need to take action immediately when the fire alarm sounds. Fire wardens are trained to take quick actions in the event of a fire and help people evacuate the building as soon as possible. The sooner they can evacuate the building the more will be safety.
Personal Emergency Evacuation Plan
A personal emergency evacuation plan covers all the procedures for employees and visitors with physical disabilities and lack of mobility. Due to their lack of mobility, they may need guidance or assistance for safe evacuation from the building. Hence there should be a personal emergency evacuation plan for the disabled. They include people with respiratory illnesses and other medical conditions. Every organisation should have a process or plan to evacuate disabled persons during emergencies.
Understanding Human Behaviour
People have different responses to emergencies. Some of them can easily carry out the emergency processes they learned from training. Others may be overcome with fear and panic and may not be able to go with the emergency procedures and what they learned in training. Hence it becomes extremely important for wardens to know the ways to handle different reactions of people under stress. It is important to control the crowd during fire breakouts and help all the people evacuate safely. Understanding human behaviour should be an essential aspect of fire warden training.
Drills
Organisations need to conduct fire drills regularly. Many organisations don’t give much importance to fire drills, but they are important in fire training and employee safety. Fire wardens and safety directors need to keep records of all drills and make notes of problems that need to be addressed.
Active Participation
Participation depends on an updated list that can be used to ensure that the building is covered by adequate warden coverage. Also, fire wardens should be aware and notified about the upcoming drills, training and evacuation exercises. All the fire wardens should know the schedule of these events and actively participate in them to learn and be updated about the latest fire safety procedures.
Keeping track of fire warden register
Maintaining a fire warden register can be daunting, especially when it is a multi-tenanted building. When new tenants move in, or existing ones move out, changes occur regularly, and it becomes critical for new tenants to cooperate well with the fire and building regulations. They need to cooperate and correspond with the chief fire warden as well as with building management. Therefore, it is essential to maintain a fire warden register to keep track of every activity and improve the warden participation. The evacuation list also needs to be maintained in the fire warden register.
Final Words
These were some basics of fire warden training those organisations can follow for the safety of their employees. The regulations of fire safety may vary from location to location. Hence, businesses and organisations need to be aware of these regulations and follow them for the safety of their assets and employees. Now, as you know about the essential aspects of fire training, you can incorporate the same in your organisation.