One of the most important duties for a Facility Manager is to make sure your staff are properly trained in emergency response procedures. Without the proper training, you risk your occupants and visitors experiencing issues when emergencies arise.

One of the most important emergency procedures to be trained in is fire safety. Being able to identify the type of fire, extinguish it and/or evacuate occupants if it cannot be handled can make all the difference. But what kind of training does a fire warden need? And how can you make sure your occupants are properly trained? In this blog post, we will discuss the training that a fire warden needs and how you can ensure your occupants are properly trained.

 

Table of Contents:

1. What is the role of a fire warden in an organisation or business premises?
2. What training is required to become a fire warden?
3. How can facilities ensure that staff are full trained as fire wardens?
4. What are the benefits of having properly trained fire wardens on site?

 

 

1. What is the role of a fire warden in an organisation or business premises?

During emergencies, fire wardens are responsible for directing occupants to safety. Their responsibilities include:

• Checking to ensure fire doors and smoke doors are properly closed, so that fires do not spread throughout a building.
• Search the floor to ensure all persons are accounted for before and during evacuation.
• Ensure orderly movement of occupants during evacuation of a site.
• Assist mobility impaired persons during evacuations.
• Act as leaders of smaller groups during building evacuations, so occupants remain orderly amidst any panic.
• Operate first attack fire-fighting equipment including: portable fire extinguishers, hose reels & fire blankets.

Wardens are mostly easily identified by the red warden cap, helmet or vest that they are required to wear once an emergency has become known to them.

 

2. What training is required to become a fire warden?

 

Fire warden training is the collection of learning courses, materials and resources which once completed and understood prepare a regular occupant within your facility for accepting the responsibilities outlined above to become a fire warden.

Generally, fire warden training will include:

• Planning for all emergency types
• Understanding the Emergency Control Organisation structure
• Warden roles and responsibilities
• Alarm systems and assessing risk practices
• Emergency management process
• Evacuation and lockdown protocols and best practices
• Fire extinguisher training

 

3. How can facilities ensure their staff are fully trained as fire wardens?

 

Australian Standard 3745: Planning for Emergencies in Facilities outlines that warden training must be completed once every 6 months. By continuing to maintain this training schedule, facilities can ensure their wardens are fully trained and ready to take on their responsibilities.

If the training schedule has fallen behind, then the facility must make every effort to ensure training is completed as soon as possible. It can be difficult organising for every member of the ECO team to be in the one place at the one time for training,  there are always flexible online training options that just as equally complete the compliance requirements that wardens are assigned with.

 

4. What are the benefits of having properly trained fire wardens on site?

The greatest benefits your facility has with properly trained wardens include:

• Meeting the compliance requirements of Australian Standard 3745: Planning for Emergencies in Facilities. You can have peace of mind that your facility is covered against compliance checks.
• The security of knowing that your occupants are far less likely to be harmed during emergency events.
• The peace of mind knowing your fire wardens will be better equipped to protect your facility if a fire emergency occurs.

First 5 Minutes offers a comprehensive package that ensures your complete emergency compliance; including the warden training that we’ve talked about in this article. You can contact us below to get more information on how you can best prepare yourself in the case of an emergency.

 

 

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