From a legal perspective, schools need to abide by the Regulatory Reform (Fire Safety) Order 2005/Fire (Scotland) Act 2005.  The buildings must meet the required standards and all staff must have adequate fire safety training.

Training typically needs to include:

• Induction training to cover general fire awareness
• Periodic refresher training, or extra training where the level of fire risk increases as a result of changes in your procedures
• Training to support people in meeting their fire safety duties
• Training to build appropriate skills such as fire risk assessment, fire warden or using fire extinguishers

However, this is not the full story, as it is vital that you also consider the additional fire safety requirements of a school environment and the unique elements around your particular school.  Some things to think about are:

• Have you read and understood your fire safety policy?
• Do you know the locations of fire assembly points and fire exits?
• Do you know what you would do if an exit route is blocked by fire?
• Have you planned for unusual behaviour from children in the event of a fire?
• Have you considered the impact on safeguarding if an emergency happens?
• Have you thought about all staff, including cleaners, cooks etc?
• Have you considered visitors?
• Do your policies also include fire prevention?
• Have you considered the risks around arson?
• Have you prepared a grab bag?

For more information on this topic, see our blog Fire Safety in Schools.