Lango Standard Procedure for Establishing a Fire Team at the Workplace

Author Reference: Lango, B. (2017). Lango Standard Procedure for Establishing a Fire Team at the Workplace. Intel Fire Group of Companies Blog. Nairobi, Kenya. January 28, 2018.

 

Workplace Fire Marshal Reflector Jacket (Source: Intel Fire Group)

The Kenyan fire risks regulation rules legal notice number 59 of 2007 revised in 2010 in its section 20 requires every workplace to form a fire team giving a guide on the total number required depending on the workplace but fails to provide a candid procedure to selecting these members. The regulation provides that a workplace shall constitute of the following members: at least two persons where the number of workers is not more than ten; at least three persons where the number is between eleven and twenty five; and at least five persons where the number of workers is more than twenty five. The word “at least” confirms that these are the minimum requirements and for every workplace the process of identifying these minimum is usually a daunting task. The question therefore is, how the safety office would select the required fire team from the various sections of the workplace. The Lango standard procedure for establishing fire teams at the workplace gives the following steps:

1. Identify the category of the workplace where the fire team is being created as per the fire risk regulation rules legal notice number 59 of 2007 which is a subsidiary of Occupational Safety and Health Act (OSH) 2007 revised in 2010. The workplace should therefore be categorized as: 
1. Having less than 10 workers 
2. Having between 11 and 25 workers 
3. Having more than 25 workers
   

1. If the workplace category is (a) above i.e have less than 10 workers then randomly select two able individuals on voluntary basis as the workplace fire team members and take them through a training, if not, then
    
2. The workplace have between 11 and 25 workers and this is still within considerable strength of voluntary selection
   of three individuals to the fire team membership of the workplace, otherwise;
    
3. The workplace has more than 25 employees and will definitely have various departments. List all the departments
   within the workplace which have more than 5 persons.
    
4. From each of the departments listed voluntarily select one person to represent the department to the fire team of
   the workplace.
    
5. Compile a list of the selected members from each of the various departments and if the list does not reach the
   minimum required number of five members to the fire team then repeat the process to add more members to the
   team.
    
6. Publish the list of the voluntary selected members of the fire team to the workplace general notice board indicating
   their telephone numbers as required in OSH Act 2007.
    
7.  Hold the first orientation meeting to congratulate the members to the fire team and let them nominate through
   their own process one of them as the chief fire team member to guide their functions.
   

It is prudent to note that these procedures follows a series of studies conducted in various organization in the process of establishing fire team within the workplace. The procedure is a test standard and can be used for both practicing safety professionals and non-safety professionals practicing safety duties at the workplace. FIRE SAFETY DUTIES AT THE WORKPLACE IS A VOLUNTARY SERVICE BUT THAT GENTLEMAN IN THAT CORNER OFFICE HOLDS THE KEY.
 

Benard Lango, PhD Projects Management, MA. PPM, Bsc.IT(DSS)
An accomplished researcher in the field of public safety service delivery specializing in PMIS use in disaster management, Author of several books and articles, A trainer in public safety management, a policy developer in the area of disaster projects management. An Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) and Environmental Audit (EA) Lead Auditor registered with NEMA Kenya. A Member of the Environmental Institute of Kenya (EIK), A practicing member of Professional Trainers Association of Kenya (PTAK), A member of the Project Management Institute (PMI) the regulatory organization of the Project Management Body of Knowledge (PMBOK)
benard.lango@gmail.com, www.benardlango.org