What does the law say?
In summary
- Every employer sets up a fire-fighting service.
- The members of the service follow specific training with mandatory refresher training.
- The employer provides every worker with the necessary training on the prevention measures, repeated at regular intervals.
- Evacuation drills are organised at least once a year.
Fire-fighting service
Unlike before, every employer must set up a fire-fighting service, regardless of the number of workers. This ensures there is always at least one person who can intervene at the start of a fire. The service is tasked with preventing fire, facilitating evacuation and extinguishing or controlling an incipient fire.
Legal text
“Every employer sets up a fire-fighting service. The employer determines the number of workers who are part of it, the competencies required for their tasks and the specific training to acquire those competencies. The training on intervention in the event of fire includes theoretical and practical elements, including practical exercises with protective equipment according to intervention scenarios. Refresher training is organised regularly.”
Training of all workers
Legal text
“The employer gives every worker the necessary training so that they can adopt behaviour that prevents fire, react appropriately when discovering fire or smoke, raise the alarm, understand the alarm signals and correctly apply the evacuation instructions. To this end, the training includes, among other things, evacuation drills organised at least once a year.”