Educating Staff About Fire Safety And Fire Doors
All businesses should, by law, have fire safety equipment, strategies, and procedures in place to deal with a fire outbreak emergency. That said, these procedures are of little value if the company staff are uneducated in how to use the equipment and what to do in such an emergency! These plans are established to protect your business and, more importantly, your people, should a fire outbreak occur, and any ‘slip-up’ in these circumstances can have tragic consequences, so it is essential that all staff are properly educated and trained in the correct safety procedures. Here are some aspects of educating your staff on fire safety:
A Decent Staff Induction
One the most important aspects of any job – and any workplace – is safety. Most staff starting a new role, or at a new company, will almost certainly undergo a first-day induction. This is the perfect opportunity to include the corporate fire safety information and instruction. Employees should be informed of the existing company fire procedures, fire drills, current evacuation plans in place, and be shown the buildings fire exits.
Informative Posters
All workplaces have a duty of care to their staff to keep their staff informed of all fire emergency procedures. It is, indeed, a legal requirement to display the appropriate Health and Safety Executive (HSE) posters in relevant locations around the work premises. This provides the perfect opportunity to reinforce that mandatory information with posters of your own displaying your corporate information on fire safety procedures and protocols. These strategically placed posters can serve to, not only keep these matters uppermost in your staffs’ minds, but also provide important safety information for any visitors or guests to your work premises.
Internal Email Updates
Health and Safety Officers within a company will always be performing checks and tests on the physical fire equipment around the workplace. The same regular diligence also needs to be shown to the fire procedures. All fire safety plans and processes should be maintained and checked, and any changes in content to the process, or physical aspects as building layout or staff numbers and such, should be immediately relayed to all staff. Internal email, and meetings, is the ideal way to achieve this.
Regular Fire Drills
You can have the most detailed and efficient fire procedures, processes and plans in theory and writing, but they will only prove effective if put into practice. And for these important procedures to work when most needed, in the event of a fire emergency, practice is exactly what is required. Ensure your staff perform fire drills regularly – it is, indeed, law for a business to perform a full staff fire drill annually – but it is better to have your staff repeat the drill more often. They say practice makes perfect – and there is no more important issue than to provide the opportunity for your staff to regularly practice what they have learned and potentially save lives.
Essential Training
An essential aspect of ensuring your staff is aware of the existing fire procedures and protocols is to train them. Some businesses have relevantly trained safety officers who can instruct all the other staff accordingly on the correct and safe use of fire equipment and can impart the important fire evacuation procedures and such. Other companies, perhaps larger organisations with greater staff numbers, may choose to employ specialist third-party businesses to deliver the latest knowledge and skills on how to react responsibly and safely in a fire emergency.
Fundraisers or events
Some businesses organise staff ‘fun’ days or corporate events to help reinforce this important information. Sometimes people don’t properly ‘engage’ in information they are getting, especially if it is delivered in a formal, ‘classroom’ manner. If, however, you ‘wrap up’ the information in a more enjoyable event or environment, it will more strongly establish and reinforce the message and detail to those involved. Consider, perhaps, linking your important fire drills and fire training exercises to raising money for local charities and causes. People respond better to helping others, and the exercises will be taken more seriously and, crucially, be better remembered by your staff.
