A fire warden is a member of staff with two jobs: helping to prevent fires day to day, and helping everyone get out if the alarm sounds. There is no fixed legal number. How many you need depends on your building, your people and your working hours.
Why have fire wardens
Section 18(2) of the Fire Services Acts 1981 and 2003 requires anyone having control of a premises to prepare appropriate fire safety procedures and make sure they are applied at all times. Procedures only work if named people carry them out. Fire wardens are those people.
What a fire warden does day to day
- Keeps escape routes and exits in their area clear.
- Notices fire doors that are wedged open or damaged.
- Reports faults: broken call points, missing extinguishers, failed emergency lights.
- Watches for new hazards such as overloaded sockets or storage in the wrong place.
- Helps new staff learn the evacuation procedure.
What a fire warden does in an evacuation
- Directs people to the nearest safe exit.
- Checks their area is clear, including toilets and meeting rooms, if it is safe to do so.
- Helps anyone who needs assistance, following their personal plan.
- Closes doors behind them.
- Reports to the person in charge at the assembly point: area clear, or who is missing.
A warden is not a firefighter. They should only use an extinguisher if they have been trained, the fire is small and their exit is behind them.
How many do you need?
Work it out from your fire risk assessment. Consider:
- Layout: at least one warden for each floor or separate area.
- Cover: enough to allow for holidays, sickness, shifts and hybrid working, so that a trained warden is present whenever the building is occupied.
- Risk: more where people sleep, where the public are present or where occupants need help to evacuate.
- Hours: nights and weekends need cover too.
What training should cover
- How fires start and spread.
- The building’s alarm, escape routes and assembly point.
- The evacuation procedure and the warden’s part in it.
- Helping people who need assistance.
- Types of extinguisher and when not to use one.
- What to check and report day to day.
Refresh training regularly and after any change to the building or procedure. Record who was trained and when in your fire safety register.
Test it with a drill
A drill shows whether wardens know their areas and whether the roll call works. Record the time taken and what needs to improve.
A fire risk assessment from Safer Solutions will tell you how many wardens your building needs and where. Call 086 275 9728, email info@safersolutions.ie or request a quote.