Staff Training

[stevew]

On the introduction of the FPWP Regs the Government emphasised that existing levels of fire safety should be maintained.

Many FP Act certificates issued to factories/shops and offices require staff training to be carried out annually.   The FPWP Regs HO Guide to Employers recommends  'training is repeated as necessary (usually once or twice a year)'

What is to stop an employer , through a risk based approach arguing a case for 24 months between training sessions?

[colin todd]

Nothing at all. Its part of the non-prescriptive approach.

[Chris Houston]

Insurers might not like it.  Maybe.

[colin todd]

Equally, it might be better to carry out really good quality training every 24 months than just a token gesture every 12 months. Some fire certs (eg London) say every 6 months but no one really does that or certainly not in a really committed way.

[stevew]

I must agree that it does depend on the quality of the training.   However the word  competence raises its head yet again.  Unless a complaint is received I cannot see any fire authority showing a great deal of interest on the matter.   Which takes us to Colin's comment on commitment.   Yes the requirement has been there for some years raised many times by myself as an inspecting officer.   However why change when all that used to happen was a deficiencies notice, no follow-up and certainly no threat of any further action.   Perhaps if fire authorities had spent more time emphasing the importance of quality training under the FP Act we would be referring to employer commitment in a positive way in 2005.

Interestingly this has taken me full circle to the competence of the person carrying out the risk assessment.   A topic covered extensively elsewhere in this forum.