Ensure your staff's safety for your own peace of mind

New courses for new Fire Regs
August 15th 2006

What are the new regulations?

In October 2006 new fire safety rules affecting all businesses in England and Wales will come into force. The new Fire Safety Reform Order is a consolidation of existing fire safety legislation and is being introduced to make the law easier to understand and comply with, and is part of the Government’s commitment to reduce death, injury and damage caused by fire.

What does this mean for me?

If you are an employer or self-employed and are responsible for business premises, then you will need to act by October 2006.The main effect of the changes will be a move towards greater emphasis on fire prevention in all business premises. Fire certificates will be abolished and will cease to have legal status. Responsibility for complying with the Fire Safety Order will rest with the 'responsible person', usually the employer or site manager. If you are the responsible person you will have to carry out a fire risk assessment, which must focus on the safety of all 'relevant persons'. If you employ five or more people you must record the significant findings of the assessment.

The Order also imposes duties on the reponsible person to take general fire precautions to ensure the safety of employees which includes provision of information and training in fire safety procedures.

Health and Safety Industry eLearning providers, Praxis42, has recently launched an eLearning course in Fire Safety at Work. Developed with a leading Fire Training company and supported by a Fire Authority, the company says the course will help attendees appreciate the key points of the new regulations and, most importantly, will ensure compliance.

Moreover it will train clients’ workforces in the correct course of action on finding a fire – making your workplace safer.

Praxis42 says its eLearning courses provide up to the minute training, offering companies of any size the ability to provide instant computer-based knowledge to their employees – when and where they need it.

All courses can be accessed online and also have the added benefit of being linked to a learning management system that logs and tracks access and completion of the course.

The course content includes:

• Overview of the Fire Safety Regulations and what they mean to you

• Knowing your organisation’s fire policy and procedures

• Understanding fire and how fires start

• Minimising fire hazards in the workplace

• Safe waste disposal

• Obstructions to escape routes

• Action on discovering a fire and what constitutes a fire incident

• Safe visual assessment of risk

• Guidelines on when and how you should raise the alarm and why people hesitate

• What to do on hearing the alarm

• Guidelines on tackling a fire

• Fire evacuation procedures

• Location of escape routes and how you should use them

• How to use fire doors and fastenings

• The use of lifts during fires

• Procedures for people with disabilities

• The provision and use of fire extinguishers

• Different types of fires

• Different types of extinguishers and their colour codes

• Using an extinguisher, including locking mechanisms and operating techniques

• Self – assessment test

• Final checklist of points learned during the course

For further information on this or any other Praxis42 course, simply  click here and detail your requirements.

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