The Regulatory Reform (Fire Safety) Order 2005 (RRO), which came into force in October 2006, is the main piece of legislation affecting fire safety in England and Wales.
The legislation is based on a risk assessment, rather than a prescriptive approach, with the emphasis on fire prevention, risk identification and reduction. The employer or building owner or controller is the person responsible for the safety of their employees and anyone else who is on the (non-domestic) premises, such as members of the public or visitors.
The ‘Responsible Person’ (England and Wales), ‘Duty Holder’ (Scotland) or ‘Appropriate Person’ (Northern Ireland), must also ensure people can safely escape in the event of fire. For this they must, by law, be properly trained. Every company or organisation must decide who this person is and make them known to employees.
Responsible Persons must be given effective training to ensure they carry out their fire safety duties properly and safely. They need to be trained in:
Certificates are usually given at the end of a course, eg Level 2 Certificate, National Qualifications Framework, or CFPA Europe Certificate in Basic Fire Fighting and Fire Prevention.
Responsible Person Training providers
There are many Responsible Person training providers in the UK. These include:
Not all companies provide costs on their websites, so it’s always best to call them about prices and locations.
Under the RRO it is the responsibility of employers to ensure that their staff are adequately trained on what to do in the event of fire.
Training should be provided to all new staff, with refresher training given at least once a year. Training should be undertaken by a competent person, who can be from a recognised outside organisation, or fully-trained staff may train others in the organisation.
Appropriate records must be kept. The Responsible Person should tell all staff about any new fire risks that emerge and organise a fire drill at least once a year.
Staff should be trained in:
Courses are a usually combination of theory and practical experience and range from basic to advanced.
Again, there are many providers of staff training, but unlike Responsible Person training, most are site-specific and so provided on clients’ own premises in order to implement an emergency plan. Some of these include:
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[…] of the responsible person to ensure that it doesn’t happen. That is why they must ensure adequate fire prevention principles are in place to reduce the risk of a fire starting as much as […]