Why Fire Wardens deserve a Financial Incentive

It used to be the case that most companies gave a small financial incentive to their nominated Fire Wardens for doing their weekly duties on top of their main job role. Nowadays it seems this is no longer the case. From my own experience whilst consulting with businesses I have heard of 1 place that does this. I’d like to think I would too.

Let’s dive into why I think you should give the incentive.

We all know that if a fire starts it can quickly get out of control and become life threatening. As usual with all things Health and Safety it’s about being pro active and in this case ensuring a fire can’t start. That’s where Fire Wardens come in with their weekly checks.

They support your general housekeeping and electrical safety.

When going about their warden duties within their area of responsibility they will be getting a general overview of how clean and tidy the place is. And what about those out of sight out of mind places e.g. behind equipment, underneath desks etc.

Rooms that aren’t usually occupied such as basements or attics where everything gets dumped. Quite often during training I hear stories of locked cupboards or storage rooms where only the maintenance man has the key. The Fire warden needs access.
Is there a build up of rubbish, harmful substances etc that typically wouldn’t be there or in those quantities.
Question whether or not any items need throwing out.
Your protected routes will deserve particular attention. These are the main ways to get through the building inc the stairwells.
Anything out of the ordinary here must be logged and actioned.

Then all of your electrical equipment – does it need switched off? Overloaded sockets? Condition of the plugs and wiring?

What to check on a Fire Door?

These are essential to ensuring everyone gets out in time should you have a fire emergency. Your Fire wardens must know what to look for on each door. Check out the video for this. The one thing I like about the video is they outline the importance of getting this activity logged. If you do get an inspection by your local fire officer they will be very interested in the upkeep off your fire doors. So impress them by logging all of your activity.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gKcO0CvcofA

Fire Extinguishers and Fire Fighting Equipment

Fire wardens will check over each extinguisher with its general condition, whether or not it has been used and is it in its dedicated spot.

This short video explains the key points for inspection of a fire extinguisher.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1cB-qwMzKBU

Emergency Lighting, Break Glass and Signage

Depending on what type of lighting you have in place will determine how it is checked. Your Fire Wardens will need trained on how to do this. And similarly with break glasses. Train them on how to see if these work. Usually simple devices will be used such as small metal keys. Train your wardens on how to operate your Fire Panel too. Ask your supplier to visit and gather all of your Fire Wardens to take part in the training.

Equipment to support less able bodied persons.

Train your fire wardens and other staff if you have equipment such as evac chairs or ski sheets etc. They must feel competent to use the equipment and give confidence to the person needing this support. Evac chairs are very tricky and usually when I conduct this training myself there are often people on the course who have no idea on how they are used.

During Staff meetings highlight the work they do and nurture support within the team.

Support your Fire Wardens

Let me give you some ideas on getting the best out of your Fire Wardens which will encourage them to ensure they complete their rounds and to the standard needed.

Top Tips to support Fire Wardens

Training – Good quality e-learning but only once they have completed some face to face training and personally I would include training that uses Fire Extinguishers too. Vital if you have evac chairs. Talk to us about your Fire training needs. E: admin@duell-training.co.uk
Monthly Staff meetings – Of course talk about your marketing strategy or how to increase your customer base but Health and Safety should always be on the agenda. This is your chance to highlight the value of your Fire Wardens. E.g. when doing their Fire Warden duties please don’t disturb them etc. Commending them on their efforts in front of the team etc
Give your Fire Wardens a voice during team meetings – they can pick out good examples e.g. good housekeeping. And of course allow them to pick out any bad examples they noticed whilst completing their duties e.g. a propped open fire door. Giving your Fire Wardens a voice will make them feel more valued.
Buy them a Hi Vis jacket with the words Fire Warden engraved on the back, in their favourite colour and hang it on the back of their chair. They wear this whilst completing their duties and this tells everyone else to “leave me alone, I’m doing a very important task right now.”
A small area of responsibility will make it easier to do the job and as a result they will be more willing to do the job on schedule and to the Health and Safety standards expected. There should be no excuses. Of course you will need more Wardens.
Make sure you give them the time to do the job. Too often it can be done after their shift ends with work commitments getting in the way etc. Set a day and time of day would be recommended as it then fits into their normal work pattern. It’s not an add on so to speak!!

Choose Wisely

If you know your team really well then there will be some obvious choices on who should be a Fire Warden and can handle the extra responsibilities described above.

Department heads would be ideal or their deputy. Consider, though, will they have the time on top of their day-to-day responsibilities.
If not the dept head and instead a member of the team, ask the dept head who they think will take the Fire Warden role seriously. Who has a natural interest in Health and Safety? Who in the team shows good standards in their day-to-day work?

Check the check

As a business owner you will have your own legal accountability and remember what we talked about earlier with choosing the right person to do the important job of keeping everyone safe from a fire starting out.

But how do you know they are doing the job to the standards expected? I mean they checked all of the boxes and according to that document everything looks safe but did they spend time taking a look under a colleague’s desk for overloaded sockets? Do all of the Fire Doors shut 100%? If the Fire Authority arrive at your premises will they leave happy?

This is where you come in. I know you’re busy as a business owner but weigh up that against the safety of the building and the people in it.

I’d recommend checking their work when they start this role. Try to shadow them and offer support. Then each week do your own checks- small areas (for ease) and check another small area e.g. 1 floor at a time. Then check each month. If you’re happy their paperwork matches “the look” of the building then check less often. And remember those staff meetings when you’re highlighting all of the good work they are doing to the team? Hopefully they are showing that appreciation back by ensuring they do a thorough job.

Another aspect of the role of a fire warden would be to co-ordinate the fire evacuation if a fire did break out. But with the right support from you, your fire wardens will be doing a cracking job with their regular fire checks, then there’s little chance a fire will start !!

Fire Wardens don’t just keep us safe from the dangers of fire and toxic smoke, they are the eyes and ears for other hazards too. our general cleanliness, slips, trips and electrical safety too!!

So, now will you put a financial incentive in their pay packet each month? I hope I’ve convinced you!! You’ll be getting your monies worth!!

We’d be happy to talk to you about your Fire Safety training needs E: admin@duell-training.co.uk