Fire Warden Training & Its Importance For Workplace Safety
Fire incidents can be devastating to both a facility as well as its occupants. Not only do fire incidents cause damage to a facility physically, but the effect on occupants’ mental wellbeing can be harmful due to high levels of stress & understandable anxiety. For these reasons, it is essential that your facility has a consistent number of trained fire wardens present at your facility whilst other occupants are present. Fire warden training plays a crucial role in preventing and responding to fire emergencies.
Fire wardens are responsible for a wide range of duties, with a few of them including; conducting fire drills, educating employees on fire safety procedures, and helping to evacuate the occupants from a facility in the event of an emergency.
Here are some key reasons why fire warden training is essential for occupant’s workplace safety within your facility:
Meet Your Required Compliance:
Emergencies in Facilities establishes that facilities maintain emergency compliance in accordance with a wide range of requirements. Each state has its own regulatory framework that enforces the requirement for this
Fire warden training is one of the most important requirements contained in AS3745:2010 for assisting you in maintaining your compliance. The standard makes it very clear that a facility cannot be compliant unless there is a guarantee that not only are their fire wardens present at the facility, but that they are also trained appropriately to confidently respond to fire emergencies.
Minimise Risks:
Fire wardens are trained to recognize fire hazards, such as improperly stored flammable materials, blocked exits, and malfunctioning fire equipment. By identifying these hazards and taking appropriate action, fire wardens can help to minimize the risk of fire incidents.
Not only is this fantastic for ensuring occupant safety, but it also means that the likelihood of your facility taking fire related damage is vastly reduced. The costs required to train fire wardens is easily offset by reducing the cost of repairs for damaged equipment & materials.
PREVENT ESCALATION:
Fire wardens are also trained in fire suppression techniques, such as how to use fire extinguishers. Similar to the previous point, using these techniques can prevent the fire from spreading thus reducing damage to your facility and its contents.
It is key that not only are fire risks minimised, but if they do occur they can be prevented from spreading further and damaging your facility. In this way, fire wardens not only ensure that assets are protected, but occupants are far safer and can evacuate with less stress & anxiety.
SAVE LIVES:
In the event of a fire emergency, the fire warden’s role is to ensure that employees evacuate the building safely and efficiently. By providing fire wardens with clear roles, wardens can focus on the occupants that they are designated and ensure their safety far more effectively than if they needed to focus on the entire facility.
The roles which wardens can take can go from simply evacuating a selected floor, to being the appointed medic during an emergency, to being the chief individual in charge of ensuring a successful evacuation. Each of these roles are designed to increase the odds of saving occupant lives.
Fire warden training is essential for occupant safety and facility compliance. By appointing trained fire wardens, facilities can ensure that they are compliant, minimize the risk of fire incidents, save lives, and prevent escalation.