Fire Safety training certificates have a shelf life. To refresh the knowledge of your staff and keep them up-to date, new training should be given once their certificates expire.

There are lots of reasons why new training might be necessary. If you have a high staff turnover, for one example, of if employees who had fire safety training move on, for another. As staff numbers increase, you will also need more Fire Marshals with the appropriate training.

As a business owner, basic fire safety training should be included in your induction to work process for new employees.

Another reason is that you have changed your business premises. In your new site/office, you will need a new fire safety assessment safety plan and a refresh of your safety training. Your previous understanding of site-specific hazards may not necessarily apply to your new business premises.

Any safety training should be refreshed on an annual basis. Some exclusions to this may be:

If there is an incident in your industry that applies to your business, it may be worth considering refreshment for staff, providing the relevant extra training.

If you change your equipment before refresher training is due, you should re-train staff on how to use the new equipment and make sure they understand fully how it differs from the old equipment.

How confident are your staff?

Rather than worrying about how your staff would deal with a fire emergency, as them just how confident they feel about the idea.

• Ask them how any previous training went and if they remembered what they were taught
• More formal lessons may not be necessary. Instead, little exercises to aid their memory may be sufficient enough
• A good idea is to have print-outs with information pinned on to notice boards, or the fridge in the break kitchen for example, to keep the information fresh in their minds

If you feel your staff need further training, you should send them on a professional course.

Most companies will advise a refreshment course once a year.

Our website contains all the details you need to know about each of our Training courses. Places can be secured following the steps on our website, or you can book over the phone should you prefer. Please contact the team on 01375 265950 for any queries relating to any one of our courses.