Fire Marshal/Fire Watch

At G3 Security Ltd we understand the importance of choosing the right fire marshal or fire warden company for your site. We take fire seriously and move quickly to ensure your site, colleagues, occupants, and public a safe and free from harm or damage.

We are also able to provide professional fire wardens. This is a person responsible for supporting the ongoing management of fire safety and contributing to the safety of people in the event of a fire evacuation. Unlike a dedicated fire watch officer, the role of a fire warden can be carried out as an addition to an individual’s day-to-day activities. We are also able to provide fully qualified security officers able to act in a fire warden capacity.

A fire watch service is a safety measure designed to ensure your premises are properly protected from the threat of fire. Fire watch services are used when there is an increased risk of fire on your site – due to, for example, alarm systems and sprinklers being deactivated for longer than four hours, “hot work” (such as welding) taking place and during hazardous demolitions.

A “fire watch officer” is a person who is solely responsible for monitoring fire risks, looking out for fire and ensuring fire safety best practice is adhered to throughout your premises. Our experienced, qualified fire watch staff will become intimately familiar with your buildings or premises, will eliminate fire risks, and will ensure complete fire safety compliance.

When is a fire watch required?

In some situations, enlisting fire watch services is a requirement for fire safety compliance. The 2015 edition of the International Fire Code (IFC) states that a fire watch is necessary when: a building’s fire alarm system or sprinkler system will be out of service for more than four hours; when “hot work” is taking place within a premises; during some building demolitions; when it is an essential safety measure in a place of assembly or congregation due to the number of persons, nature of performance, exhibition, display, content or activity.

You may also wish to procure fire watch services for your own peace of mind. If you believe that the risk of fire significantly threatens your people, property and assets, utilising professional fire watch services will provide additional assurance that your business is protected.

What to Expect from G3 Security Services?

Our professional fire watch services will equip your business with one or multiple dedicated fire watch officers. These members of staff will focus exclusively on managing the risk of fire in your premises. Our fire watch officers are properly trained, highly experienced and possess the necessary expertise to properly carry out fire watch work.

G3 Security Ltd are committed to making sure your premises are as safely guarded from the threat of fire. We offer our guards internal and external training to ensure they are kept updated with current procedures.

Our fire marshals/wardens are trained to:

• Note and report hazards to the ‘responsible person’
• Remove any unsafe items stored inappropriately
• Checking the smoking areas are kept clean and ashtrays are emptied regularly
• Take the correct action in the event of a fire
• Record all details in a logbook
• Familiarise themselves with the designated assembly point
• Ensure that all fire-resisting doors are kept shut, and locked shut where required
• Ensure that escape routes are kept clear and can be always used effectively
• Provide assurance to residents of the building and direct them to fire escapes.
• Report any concerns to the ‘responsible person’ for the building or call 999

Once our fire marshals are alerted to a fire they will:

• Respond to fire alarm systems
• Call the emergency services
• Alerting residents ASAP on operation of a smoke alarm
• Evacuate people from the area involved via practised routes
• Ensure that anyone who is pregnant or with disabilities are appropriately assisted
• Conduct a floor sweep to ensure no one is left behind
• Knocking on each flat door and/ or using horns to alert residents
• Make themselves visible at the assembly point

Our guards receive industry led training to ensure they deal with every fire alarm activation as quickly as possible, informing the fire brigade immediately and keeping any potential losses to your business and the public to a minimum. Every alarm activation is treated with the same priority be it real or false and dealt with in the appropriate manner.

Our staff are fully trained to ensure they fully understand the purpose of their role and the tasks they are responsible for both during service hours and in the event of a fire. We provide them with general health and safety training and basic first aid training too, although we advise our guards that active first aid and firefighting is best left to the experts.

The key to our service is communication as it is important that staff are constantly in touch with each other. We can provide our guards with two-way radios to facilitate this and ensure our control room are always available to deal with the guard’s queries. We provide our guard with hi-vis outerwear to ensure they are highly visible to colleagues and people they may always encounter on their patrols. Fire alarm activation can suspend electrical services on sites, so we provide our staff with torches and power back up to ensure they can still complete their duties and keep your site safe and navigate people to safety.

Helping us to perform our role

Here are some tips to keep your site safe:

• Make sure all electrical devices are PAT Tested.
• Ensure that health and safety policies are up to date
• Conduct regular fire risk assessments
• Link your business automatically to a fire service

For further information please visit

www.gov.uk/workplace-fire-safety-your-responsibilities

www.london-fire.gov.uk