Richard Davis, one of our fire risk assessors, explains the role of a fire marshal, why fire marshal training is so important, and much more. Some businesses & organisations may call the same role Fire Wardens although usually, the roles are slightly different. We can of course, help you define those roles, responsibilities and provide training and risk assessments.
Richard is part of our specialist team that delivers regular fire marshal training sessions to businesses across the UK.
What is the role of a fire marshal?
Fire marshals hold a number of functions, such as:
- Assisting with fire prevention and hazard reporting.
- Helping to ensure escape routes remain clear.
- Leading and supporting building evacuations when required.
- Sweeping designated areas to ensure everyone has left.
- Assisting people with disabilities and mobility issues.
- Reporting to assembly points.
- Liaising with the fire service.
Put simply, a fire marshal should be problem-solving and finding things that are wrong.
For example, maybe you’ve had a truckload of stuff dropped off in pallets, and these pallets have just been dumped outside the final exit door.
If other people take the attitude of ‘It’s got nothing to do with me,’ then you, as the fire marshal, need to take action by identifying these issues, reporting them, and sorting them out.
Why is a fire marshal’s role so important?
A famous fire took place at a Woolworth’s department store in Manchester in 1979.
When it came to evacuating, the people in the building were reluctant to leave.
This still happens today. The fire alarm goes off in a building, and people just look at each other, think it’ll be a false alarm, and don’t move.
Unfortunately, in this instance, a significant number of people were killed because they hadn’t evacuated the building.
Scenarios like this prove why the presence of a competent fire marshal is so important.
What is fire marshal training designed to achieve?
Fire marshal training helps you understand risk, prevention, and how to respond in an emergency.
It teaches you the core principles of assisting with a safe evacuation, including supporting people with disabilities.
It also teaches you how to work within the organisation’s fire safety policy and risk assessment.
Ultimately, fire marshal training is designed to make you the eyes and ears of an organisation.
What does fire marshal training cover?
Fire marshal training is all about building blocks.
It starts with the essentials. You’ll learn about the causes of a fire, such as electrical and gas faults, and the principles of fire and fire spread.
You’ll then learn about prevention. We’ll show you how to give yourself the best chance of stopping a fire from starting in the first place.
The training will also outline the protections that must be in place once a fire breaks out in order to reduce the risk to life. For instance, things like alarm systems, extinguishers, compartmentation, and fixed installations.
As you move forward, you’ll discover more about an individual’s role in terms of an evacuation.
You’ll learn how to prepare briefings for new members of staff and how to provide ongoing training to staff who’ve been in place for a significant period of time.
A significant portion of North West Fire Solutions’ training covers fire safety law, including The Regulatory Reform (Fire Safety) Order 2005. We look at multiple examples of regulation and guidance and how they relate to different types of workplaces.
One particular element of fire marshal training that’s really important to us is practical fire extinguisher use. Some organisations include this, but some don’t.
If it’s safe to do so, a fire marshal can use a fire extinguisher to tackle a fire in its incipient stage. But you don’t want the first time you use a fire extinguisher to be in a real-life, high-pressure situation.
You need to gain hands-on experience in a training environment first so that you can get used to a fire extinguisher and get a sense for the feel and weight of it.
Another important area that’s covered in fire marshal training is your responsibilities around monitoring and reporting to support compliance.
For example, you may be entrusted with:
- Testing alarm systems within the building.
- Checking final exit doors.
- Ensuring means of escape are clear.
It’s just as important that you record these checks as it is that you carry them out.
If you don’t record them, they didn’t happen.
How long does fire marshal training take?
Fire marshal training typically lasts for around three hours.
It can sometimes incorporate an exam, depending on what the Responsible Person wants and the type of organisation they work for.
This training tends to be interactive and, from my experience, very interesting.
People often go into fire marshal training with a degree of trepidation. They think it’s going to be dry and hard to take everything in, but it’s anything but. They learn a lot of information in a fun, interactive way.
By the time they’ve completed it, whatever preconceptions they may have had around the training are disproven.
How is fire marshal training tailored to specific environments?
Different types of workplaces, such as care homes, factories, and schools, require different evacuation procedures. As such, the training would be bespoke to that workplace.
Take a primary school as an example. In this type of workplace, there’s a significant risk to staff, children, and visitors. As such, this type of premises would typically have an evacuation strategy, known as simultaneous evacuation.
North West Fire Solutions tailors its training to the specific activities that are taking place in your building.
We know there’s a significant difference between a pub that’s just one room and doesn’t house sleeping occupants and a building such as a hospital or care home, for instance.
People have a predefined picture of what would happen in an evacuation, but this isn’t the case in certain types of premises.
Say you’re in a hospital. If every time the alarm went off or there was a fire in one part of the hospital and everybody evacuated, you could actually put the people in the hospital in greater danger and risk of harm.
This is why you have different types of evacuations.
One of them is called progressive horizontal evacuation. This is where you essentially move people to two fire doors away from where the fire is or where you believe it to be.
By doing this, you limit the disturbance to the people in the building.
Tailoring fire marshal training to specific workplaces is crucial, as is explaining to participants their role in those different evacuation processes.
What role do fire marshals play in supporting people with disabilities?
You must plan for all building users, not just the majority.
Fire marshals may have a role in assisting or carrying out what’s known as PEEPs, or personal emergency evacuation plans.
Say you’ve got a member of staff working on the third floor, and they’ve got a significant mobility issue. Maybe they’re a wheelchair user or they’ve got a temporary disability.
It’s more challenging for them to exit a building downstairs than it is for someone who doesn’t have that impairment.
A PEEP means working with that individual and making reasonable adjustments for them.
There are numerous adjustments you can make. For example, you could have emergency evacuation chairs, which are used to move someone down the staircase.
Essentially, with a PEEP, you need to think in advance about what you’re going to do in the event of a fire, and you need to prepare—with your fire marshals and other people in your organisation—for how that person is going to evacuate.
Some people think a PEEP is centred only around people with mobility issues, but that’s not the case. Different types of disabilities can interfere with or affect the way in which one might evacuate a building.
A good example of this is someone with significant hearing loss.
There are people who wear cochlear implants, for example. A cochlear implant is a device that allows someone who is totally deaf to hear. But if they haven’t got their cochlear implant fitted, or its batteries have run out, they can’t hear anything at all.
Devising a PEEP would allow you to prepare and think about how you’re going to evacuate that person.
It would also involve engaging directly with the person and potentially working with third-sector charities that specialise in areas of physical impairment.
In summary, there are a range of different partners and stakeholders whom you can engage with to ensure people with disabilities are supported and safe if a fire occurs.
What qualities are required to be a fire marshal?
A fire marshal needs to have a voice and command authority. They need to say, ‘We’re doing XYZ, and we’re doing it now.’
A fire marshal should be directing people and telling them what to do in the event of a fire. The minute that you do that, people will follow.
Remaining calm in a busy, noisy environment and being a clear communicator are prerequisites for any competent fire marshal.
It’s also crucial that you’re physically capable of undertaking the role. As a fire marshal, it falls on you to investigate whether there’s a fire and to make sure the building (or your area) is cleared, and this involves a fair amount of physical exertion.
This next point should be a given, but having enthusiasm is important, too. You need to care about your workplace, colleagues, and taking responsibility.
Nobody with a ‘That’s got nothing to do with me’ mindset can succeed as a fire marshal. If you’re going to fulfil this role, you need to be prepared to take action.
What common misconceptions exist around the role of a fire marshal?
Many people equate the role of a marshal with that of a firefighter, but they’re not the same by any means.
A fire marshal is not a firefighter. Their main duty in an emergency is to facilitate safe evacuation, raise the alarm, and call the fire service.
Another common misconception is that being a fire marshal is a tick-box role.
Fire marshals are proactive and visible in their organisation. And from my experience of leading the training, people take being a fire marshal very seriously and enjoy the role. In some cases, participants see this training as a stepping stone to a career in compliance, whether that’s in health and safety or becoming a fire risk assessor.
There’s also a belief, within many premises across the UK, that having one or two fire marshals is sufficient. It isn’t.
You need multiple fire marshals to account for different shift patterns and absences, particularly in larger organisations.
Post-COVID, more people are working from home than ever before. If a workplace has only got one or two fire marshals, and there are 200 or 300 people on-site, then very often, that workplace won’t have a fire marshal. Organisations that find themselves in this situation need to address it urgently.
What support is given to participants once fire marshal training is complete?
When you complete fire marshal training, you’re given a booklet containing the key information that was presented to you.
You’ll also receive a Level Two certificate, which is valid for three years. This certificate is portable, so you can take it with you to other organisations should you choose to change jobs. Generally speaking, it’s a valuable qualification to have.
If you have any significant questions or challenges relating to the fire marshal training you receive from North West Fire Solutions, we’re always happy to discuss these with you and give you whatever support you need going forward.
Get specialist fire marshal training from North West Fire Solutions
You’ll protect yourself and your building occupants and remain legally compliant with our fire marshal training, delivered by seasoned experts.
Most of our trainers have a fire service background and real-life experience of what happens next when a fire breaks out.
From firefighters up to senior officers, we’ve got a brilliant cohort of trainers. They’re very experienced not only in terms of preventing fires and protecting people from fires, but also in terms of delivering specialist training.
They understand:
- The role of a fire marshal.
- What goes wrong in buildings.
- How fire behaves in compartments.
- The hazards and the risks that exist in different buildings.
- The psychology of building occupants when a fire takes place.
With a combined industry experience of approximately 250 years, we’re perfectly placed to advise you on all things fire safety.
To arrange for us to carry out fire marshal training at your premises, call us on 0151 665 0124 or emailing info@nwfiresolutions.co.uk.