Page 384 - IGC BOOK

• Relevant INDUSTRY and Group Company requirements.

All those identified as having a supervisory role in the Fire Emergency Plan or other specific
duties associated with fire prevention and response should be given additional training so
that they can fulfil their role. They must also be provided with the details of the FRA.

Fire Marshals

Whatever the fire evacuation procedures are, there will always be the need for some members of
staff to take on particular roles in the emergency situation, perhaps as nominated ‘fire marshals’
(sometimes called ‘fire wardens’) to take roll calls of workers at assembly points and report back
to a responsible manager.

Fire marshals might be required to:

• Check all areas in the building to ensure that everyone knows that an evacuation is in progress
and to help where necessary. This is common practice in buildings where members of the
public may be present (e.g. shopping centres).
• Give special assistance to the disabled and infirm. This may require the use of special evacuation
equipment, such as an ‘evac-chair’.

• Investigate the site of the fire (as indicated by the fire alarm system control panel).
Some workplaces operate a ‘fire team’ whose role involves investigation of fire alarms and fire-
fighting.

High-risk installations may even have their own in-house fire-fighters with all the vehicles, equipment
and resources that might be available to the emergency services (e.g. at an airport or chemical plant).

Roll Call

Once workers and contractors have evacuated a building and collected at their assembly points,
it is usual to take a roll call to ensure that all persons are accounted for and no-one is missing.
This means that arrangements must be made for taking an effective roll call; accurate lists of
names of those on site must be produced and responsible individuals given the task of taking
the roll call.

In some cases (e.g. in shopping centres), a roll call will be impractical, in which case an alternative
method of ensuring that people have evacuated from the workplace will be required (e.g. building
checks by fire marshals).

ENSIGN | Unit IG2 – Element 10 –Fire 39