The awareness of property owners towards fire safety has been heightened since the tragic Grenfell Tower fire back in 2017. The horrifying image of a tower block completely ablaze sent shockwaves through the housing and construction industries, but also highlighted the unpredictable nature of fires, and the need for monitoring and inspections to improve safety plans. Better planning would not have saved the building, but it could have saved lives.
One of the ways to improve your fire safety is the appointment of a fire marshal. Within a workplace, fire marshals have special responsibilities, both in the event of a fire and the prevention of them. While Grenfell has not made fire marshals mandatory, they are often the best way to address your legal responsibilities towards fire safety – giving employees the peace of mind that they will be safe during a fire emergency.
What is a fire marshal?
A fire marshal is someone who is appointed as a responsible person for fire safety within the workplace. A fire marshal’s responsibilities include all facets of fire safety on site, including the prevention of fires and coordinating the response to a fire if it does occur.
While a fire marshal isn’t the be all and end all of workplace fire safety, it is their job to highlight any issues with fire safety, and ensure that they are fixed. Given the weight of responsibility on a fire marshal, they are required to undergo special fire marshal training.
Fire marshal training covers the following areas:
- Role of a fire marshal
- Fire safety regulations
- Detection and response
- Means of escape
- Firefighting equipment
- How to use fire extinguishers
- Fire damage
- Arson prevention
Candidates who successfully complete fire marshal training are officially certified as fire marshals. Fire marshal certificates usually expire after three years, but the length of the certificate (and thus the period between training) will differ depending on the nature of your workplace, and how high risk it is deemed to be.
What are the responsibilities of a fire marshal?
Broadly speaking, a fire marshal is responsible for ensuring that fire hazards in the workplace are eliminated; and that in the event of a fire, everyone in the workplace can get out safely. Finding and addressing risk factors is something that occurs on a regular basis, while leading the response to a fire will only occur in the rare event of an emergency.
A fire marshal’s regular duties may include:
- Checking that fire exits are closed and unobstructed.
- Checking that fire extinguishers are unused, in date and in place.
- Checking that fire alarms are functioning correctly.
- Checking that fire safety signage (e.g. fire exit signs) are in place.
- Checking that emergency lighting is functioning correctly.
- Conducting and assessing periodic fire safety drills.
In the event of a fire emergency, a fire marshal will immediately open their Fire Marshal Kit, which will typically contain a reflective vest, torch, glow sticks, horn, and megaphone. Having utilised these items, actions taken by the fire marshal will usually include:
- Directing co-workers towards the emergency exits.
- Ensuring that everyone is out of the building/s.
- Helping anyone who requires physical or medical assistance.
- Ensuring everyone has made it to the assembly area.
- Gathering as much information about the fire as is safe.
- Sharing relevant information with first responders.
Are fire marshals a legal requirement?
Strictly speaking, no – fire marshals are not required by law. However, this is a reflection of how all health & safety laws in the UK work. Instead of dictating exactly what it is that you need to do to keep people safe, the law simply states that you have a responsibility to keep people safe. The HSE then provides guidelines on the best ways to achieve this.
In many cases, a fire marshal is the best way to ensure that you comply with the law. Fire marshals are there to ensure that fire safety rules within the workplace are enforced, and that fires do not occur. If they do occur, they make sure that everyone gets out safely. Not having a fire marshal may put both of these in jeopardy, and put people’s safety at risk.
Some businesses may not need a fire marshal in order to meet their health & safety responsibilities. However, having a fire marshall is an easy way to meet your fire safety responsibilities, and get a better appreciation for the risk factors in your workplace. Through this, you can improve your fire safety processes and cut out risks on a daily, routine basis.
Do I need more than one fire marshal?
In order to fully meet your health and safety responsibilities, you may need more than one fire marshal. The number of fire marshals you need will depend on factors such as the size of your premises, and how many people will be on site at any given time, including staff and members of the public. A fire safety inspection should help you to establish this.
The appointment of fire marshals is usually a means to address already evident fire safety needs. If you are aware that the size or nature of your site, fire hazards posed by your work, or the number of people in the workplace make enforcing fire safety difficult for the responsible persons currently in the business, then it should be simple to appoint the number of fire marshals needed to carry these out properly.
Do fire marshals need refresher training?
Yes. Fire marshals need to renew their certificates periodically by taking refresher training. While these certificates last three years, the real need for refresher training will depend on the nature of your workplace, and the risks it poses. A workplace that is more prone to fire risks will require more regular refresher training in order to prevent lapses in the identification and nullification of those risks.
Much like the appointment of a fire marshal, undergoing refresher training is not strictly a legal requirement. Instead, it is a way to meet your legal obligation to protect people in the workplace. Failing to put fire marshals through more regular refresher training could be deemed negligent in the event that a fire occurs, and they are not sufficiently trained to deal with it effectively, opening your business up to legal liability.
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A great fire marshal will be someone who is organised, calm under pressure, and has great attention to detail. If you don’t have the capacity to train a fire marshal or want advice on your fire safety provisions, get in touch with SAMS – our trained fire marshals and inspectors can fulfil your obligations, and keep your workplace and colleagues safe.