Fire safety is crucial in every work environment. Especially in offices, where people spend most of their day, it is important to ensure that all employees can be safely evacuated in the event of a fire. An important person in this context is the fire protection officer. But how is the role implemented in the hybrid work model?
Key facts
- Thanks to the hybrid working model, there is a constant change between home office & office — even for the appointed fire protection officers.
- This may mean that there are not enough fire protection officers on site for certain office days.
- To guarantee safety when working in a hybrid way, companies must understand when employees come to the office.
- A concept for the presence of fire protection officers can then be created for busy or less busy office days.
- Workplace booking software helps to understand employee behavior & to see whether there are enough fire protection officers in the office.
Why is a fire protection officer important in the office?
The fire protection officer has a crucial role when it comes to office safety. He is responsible for monitoring fire safety measures and ensuring that they are always up to date and effective.
His duties also include carrying out evacuation exercises and training employees. An effective fire protection officer can help ensure that all employees can be safely evacuated in the event of a fire and that the office building is safe.
When do companies need a fire protection officer in their office?
In Germany, there is no general obligation to appoint a fire protection officer. However, there may still be a mandatory appointment of a fire protection officer in the office:
- Section 10 of the Occupational Health and Safety Act requires companies to appoint employees to provide first aid, fire fighting and evacuation of employees, to train them and to have them on site in an appropriate proportion to the number of employees.
- In addition, the federal states may require the appointment of a representative in local construction law. Depending on building regulations, risk assessment and insurance requirements, a fire protection officer may be mandatory.
How do you find a suitable fire protection officer?
The selection of the company's fire protection officer is the responsibility of the company itself. In many cases, one or more employees are voluntarily appointed as fire protection officers. They should have the following skills:
- leadership skills
- Organizational skills
- communication skills
- reliability
In a course lasting several weeks, employees are then trained to become certified fire protection officers and teach them the necessary expertise. The duration usually varies by institution. At the end of the course, there is an exam, which the participants must pass.
Tasks & responsibilities of the fire protection officer in the office
The fire protection officer has an important task relating to fire protection in the office. The following areas of responsibility must be considered:
- Development & implementation of a fire protection concept: The fire protection officer is responsible for developing and implementing a fire protection concept in the office. This includes reviewing and updating fire safety measures and devices.
- Training and dissemination of information: The fire protection officer is responsible for informing and training employees about fire safety measures and procedures.
- Monitoring compliance with fire safety regulations: The fire protection officer must ensure that all fire safety regulations are met and regularly check whether there have been any changes in terms of fire protection.
- Coordination with fire department and authorities: The fire protection officer is responsible for working with the fire department and authorities and must ensure effective evacuation of employees in the event of a fire.
Hybrid work & fire protection in the office
With the introduction of hybrid work In many companies, the question of a fire protection officer has once again become more important. Because of the change model, first aid and fire protection officers are now increasingly working from home.
Especially on weekdays when the office is less visited, it is sometimes difficult to maintain an appropriate ratio of employees to fire protection officers — especially since many employees in office complexes are on different floors. For fire protection in offices to work, there must be a concept for attendance.
Understanding employee behavior & developing concepts
It is therefore all the more important that employee behavior can be understood and understood — for example when it comes to the utilization of office space. Only then can a suitable concept be set up. This may include, for example, giving fire protection officers concrete incentives back to the office to come when the office space is more or less busy.
Flexible working makes it possible to coordinate with each other and to create a good relationship between employees and fire protection officers. The introduction of a Desk sharing software can provide additional help here. This can not only be used to analyze employee behavior, but also to analyze office utilization. Depending on the bookings, one or more fire protection officers can then come to the office and carry out their duties. In this way, fire protection in offices can be improved.
With Seatti, you always know whether a fire protection officer is on site
To make sure that there is always a fire protection officer on site during the particularly popular office days, Seatti can help you as Workstation booking software help.
Through seamless integration with Microsoft 365 & MS teams will simply transfer existing user groups and rights to Seatti - and thus also the defined roles as fire protection officer or first aider. With the help of Site overview Do you see who is planning to come to the office and when. And so that everyone can immediately see whether someone responsible is on site, first aiders & Co. can specify which area they are responsible for when booking. This helps to ensure that someone responsible is always on site.
In order to then determine a suitable concept for attendance, our data analysis understand employee behavior. Get an overview of when your office is heavily or less busy and then create a suitable concept for fire protection. to guarantee times.
