Health N Safety Fire

[eve1974]

If a workplace has 7 staff is it compulsory to have a fire marshal.?

Seems a bit of overkill imho but what are the legalities?

[woofgang]

if you don't have one who will do things like check the extinguisher dates, keep exits clear and so on?

[alavahalf]

I have no doubt you test the fire alarm every week.. You do don't you?

[alavahalf]

Not to mention your employers obligation that measures are in place to monitor who is on the premises. Constant monitoring of fire escapes, keeping approaches to escapes clear, emergency lighting, fire fighting duties, and evacuation in the event of a fire alarm. Checking door closers and smoke alarms. Checking emergency exit signage. What about your fire drills, all of these need to be actioned and recorded when you have a commercial premises with employees present.

[barry1010]

It is necessary. The employer is the person responsible for ensuring the regulations are adhered to and he or she can't be there every day of the year so it is essential to have at least one other person who can take over. Employers can be fined if they don't adhere to the fire safety regs and laws.

[eve1974]

Yes all fire extinguishers, smoke alarms etc are tested. There is a fire alarm test every week. These tests / checks are done by the in-house maintenance man and records are kept.

He’s not “called “ a fire marshal tho.

When I asked about a fire marshal what I meant was someone who is responsible for:

Role call To make sure all are out the bldg (only 7 staff!)

Responsibility to show / tell fire brigade which area the fire is in. (Tho the alarm panel wld show the zone anyway)

This is a huge bldg but there are only 7 staff and everyone takes some common sense responsibility to ensure exists are free of blockages etc to make escape possible

We’ve been told by independent health n safety co that we ought to have a fire marshal to assist the fire brigade with location of rooms , Roll call etc but my argument is There’s only 7 of us and on some days there’s only 5! Surely we cld all use common sense?!

[Maydup]

All Lives Matter - even if there are only 7 of you!

Whether one of you has the title of Fire Marshall or not, someone needs to be responsible for fire prevention and escape proceedures as described above.

[chelle7272]

You are assuming everyone has the same level of common sense.... It is not compulsory but it is good practice, for everyone's safety.
It helps when someone is on control of the situation. When we do anevacuation I guarantee there is always one person who thinks they can pop back to get something. What if one staff member is not able to get about well for some reason, will everyone just look after themselves and leave them behind? A map of zones is all very well, but not the same as the physical space. Areall areas accessible without keys or door codes?

[Maydup]

Imagine the building is evacuated and 4 people assemble. How many should there be? Were 7 in work today or 5? Did anyone check the loos to see if one was collapsed in there? Or is it each for themselves? Am I trapped in the stock room, or did I nip out to the shop for a sandwich?

[Maydup]

Sorry to go on at you, but I have been in a situation which thankfully wasnt to serious, but nevertheless, panic could easily have set in when the fire brigade ask ped where to go to isolate the gas; is everyone accounted for; lead us to the boiler room; which zone is your kitchen in. etc

All OK if your maintenance person is on site, in which case he should be nominated as fire marshall, but wise to have a dep who learns the ropes too.

[Buenchico]

The relevant legislation makes no reference to 'fire marshals', per se. Therefore even if your workplace had several thousand employees, there wouldn't be any specific need for any of those employees to be officially designated as 'fire marshals'.

All that the legislation states is that, where there are 5 or more employees "the responsible person must make and give effect to such arrangements as are appropriate, having regard to the size of his undertaking and the nature of its activities, for the effective planning, organisation, control, monitoring and review of the preventive and protective measures" and that he must "record the arrangements". (The 'responsible person is the employer or the person having control over the building).

The 'responsible person' is also required to ensure that employees are provided with adequate training in fire safety but, again, that doesn't require anyone to be appointed as a fire marshal.

https://www.legislation.gov.uk/uksi/2005/1541/contents/made

When I worked on a busy railway station, there was an automatic assumption that the duty supervisor would take on the role of fire marshal in the event of a fire occurring. (If he/she could actually find it, he/she was meant to don a blue hi-vis vest with 'Fire Marshal' printed on it). However that was simply stating that the person in charge of the station would take the lead, which was self-evident anyway. (All platform staff, together with all train crew, were periodically given practical training in fire-fighting by Norfolk Fire & Rescue Service, where we actually had to bring some large blazes under control on each occasion).

Whoever's the boss (or 'duty boss') where you work can take on the role of fire marshal, without any need for a formal designation as such, as long as he/she is fully conversant with evacuation procedures (and preferably has been given practical training in the use of fire extinguishers)