Most Occupants working in a building are aware that it is a requirement to have a Warden team and for Wardens to have regular training to ensure that during an emergency, Wardens are able to evacuate all Occupants in a safe manner to their designated Assembly Area, in accordance with the buildings emergency evacuation procedures.
What I have found over fifteen years as an Emergency Management Consultant, is that Occupants and often Managers are not necessarily aware that it is also a requirement for all Occupants working in a office/building to undertake General and First Response Evacuation instructions as outlined in the Qld Building Fire Safety Regulations 2008, sections 35 and 36.
The problem with Sections 35 (General Evacuation Instructions) and 36 (First-Response Evacuation Instructions) is that it doesn’t tell you a lot about what is to be covered in this training.
Let’s start with General Evacuation instructions.
Section 35 of the Regulation states that the Occupier of a building must give this instruction to each person working in a building at intervals of not more than 1 year and that new employees must complete this instruction within 2 days of starting employment. If there are any changes to procedures, then new instruction must be given to each person within a month of the changes
Good question!! This is where we need to go to Schedule 3 (dictionary) of the regulation which states: General Evacuation instructions for a building means:
a) The location of the Fire Safety Reference Points for the building; and (“Hang on? what’s a Fire Safety Reference Point”??) The dictionary refers Fire Safety Reference Points meaning back to Section 18 (1) & (3) Meaning of an Evacuation Diagram which describes what Fire Safety Reference Points need to be included in the diagrams. (eg, Fire extinguishers, Hose reels, Manual call points, Warden phones, Exits, Assembly area etc.):-
b) The procedures for evacuating the building safely in the event of a fire or hazardous materials emergency. (as per your Emergency Plan).
Further to the regulation requirements, AS3745 gives an outline as to what is required to be covered in this training. Refer to: AS3745 Section 6.4.1 Occupants working at a facility and Section 6.5.2 Occupant Skills Retention.
Now let’s have a look at the requirements for First Response Evacuation instructions.
Section 36 of the Regulations states that the Occupier of a building must give this training to each person working in a building at intervals of not more than 2 years and that instruction must be given within 1 month of starting employment. If there are any material changes to the method of operation of manually operated alarms or fire equipment, then new instruction must be given to each person within a month of those changes.
This is where we need to go back to Schedule 3 (dictionary) of the regulation which states: First Response Evacuation instructions for a building means – Instructions about the method of operation of manually operated fire alarms and fire fighting equipment in the building, including at least 1 of the following:
a) Training in the use of fire alarms and fire fighting equipment: or
b) A demonstration of the use of manually operated fire alarms and fire fighting equipment that are identical, or at least similar to, the fire alarms and fire fighting equipment in the building.
Example shown in the dictionary for paragraph (b) – showing a video about the use of manually operated fire alarms and fire fighting equipment.
Which effectively means contrary to popular belief, the actual hands on use of fire fighting equipment is not a requirement of this training. Although, from past experience, I have noted that Occupants love starting fires and using the appropriate equipment to put it out. As a Trainer, I do understand that this is an excellent way to make Occupants comfortable using fire equipment. This does however become an extra cost burden for the Client to absorb due to the cost of extinguisher refills and the fire starter equipment and it’s maintenance. It is also difficult to achieve this practical training when you work in the middle of the CBD.
Further to the regulation requirements, AS3745 gives an outline as to what is required to be covered in this training. Refer to: AS3745 Section 6.3.3 First Attack Fire Fighting and Section 6.5.3 First Attack Fire Fighting which states that this training should be repeated every 2 years.
