Fire Wardens
The University's Fire Safety Policy (ratified by council in June 2007) states that Deans, Directors and Heads of Unit are responsible for appointing sufficient numbers of fire wardens to co-ordinate the emergency response in areas falling under their control. Fire Wardens provide an invaluable link in the University's fire safety emergency response procedures by:
- Checking areas in buildings to ensure that no-one remains in the building;
- Acting as a source of information to advise others responding to the emergency about;
Possible causes of the fire alarm actuations;
Areas where people have failed to evacuate the building;
Possible presence of disabled or mobility-impaired persons requiring emergency assistance.
Appointing Fire Wardens:
When appointing Fire Wardens a number of factors must be considered:
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Fire Warden coverage is required, so far as reasonably practicable, throughout normal working hours. This is likely to have a bearing on who can reasonably be appointed as a Fire Warden. Absences, holidays etc will also need to be considered; it will probably require the appointment of a main Fire Warden and one or more deputies to provide cover across all working hours. This system could also be used to provide Fire Warden coverage in areas occupied wholly by academic or other peripatetic staff;
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Appointees must not be required to go further in to a building (e.g. upstairs) to carry out their duties in the event of an alarm actuation; this presents an unnecessary risk to wardens. Fire Wardens will need to be appointed from within the pool of staff located within the areas that they are supposed to provide cover for;
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The increased sharing of buildings between Schools, Units and Divisions may mean that it is more sensible for Fire Wardens to provide services on the basis of geographical location rather than affiliation to a particular School, Unit or Division. Wherever possible, it is advised that mutual agreements should be reached between parties to facilitate such an arrangement.
When new Fire Wardens are appointed their details should be forwarded to the Health and Safety Office (HSO) so that arrangements can be made for them to attend the appropriate training course. The HSO keep up to date lists of Fire Wardens in all areas, as well as Fire Warden Co-ordinators in all areas (those responsible for appointing Fire Wardens in the first place). These lists are to be reviewed at least annually as part of the Annual Report return process. Where Schools, Units or Divisions re-organise or move staff then a review of Fire Wardens will have to be undertaken for those specific areas at the time of the reorganisation and any changes in arrangements provided to the HSO.
Fire Warden Training:
The actual role of the Fire Warden is fairly simple; they need to check designated areas of their building for completeness of evacuation and report any findings to the Fire Marshal at their building's control point. However, whilst the role is quite simple, all Fire Wardens still need to be trained to undertake this role properly. In the past, training given to Fire Wardens has covered certain aspects, such as the selection and use of fire extinguishers, not required to undertake the Fire Warden role.
To address this issue, Fire Warden training will, in future, be made role-specific. This will include:
- How and when to check areas to ensure that people have evacuated;
- What to do if people are failing to evacuate;
- An overview of the associated University emergency procedures including the role of Security, Rescue Team and Fire Marshals;
- The location of their building's "Control" and "Assembly" Points.
It is proposed that this training be provided "in-house". And that the training should last no longer than 1 hour.
To accompany the training, the HSO will devise and issue an aide-memoire for Fire Wardens to help them to undertake their role. This will be issued once training has been completed. Existing Fire Wardens will also be issued with an aide-memoire.
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