This awareness-level qualification introduces learners to:

• The importance of fire safety in the workplace
• The legal framework, including the Regulatory Reform (Fire Safety) Order 2005
• The fire triangle and how fire starts and spreads
• The common causes of workplace fires
• Fire prevention and good housekeeping
• The purpose of the fire risk assessment
• Means of escape, fire detection and warning systems
• The classification of fires and the types of extinguisher
• Safe evacuation procedures and assembly points
• The role of fire wardens and the reporting of fire hazards

• Nobody certifies your building. Responsibility sits with the responsible person, and the fire service enforces rather than approves.
• Recording rules changed in 2023. All responsible persons must now record the fire risk assessment in full, whatever the size of the organisation.
• Smoke causes most fire deaths. Toxic, disorienting smoke fills a building far faster than flames advance.
• A wedged fire door is not a fire door. Compartmentation depends entirely on doors being closed and in working order.
• Extinguishers are for escape, not firefighting. They exist to clear a route or tackle something very small, and only where it is safe to try.
• Some people cannot use stairs. Evacuation plans that assume everyone can walk down leave those who cannot with no plan at all.

• Foundation-level (Level 1) qualification suitable for all employees in any sector
• Minimum of 4 hours’ instructional contact time, designed for flexible short-course delivery
• Delivered entirely online through the Britsafe learning management system (LMS) no physical classroom attendance is required
• Course materials are provided digitally (soft copy) via the LMS
• Assessed via an online examination through the Britsafe Examination Management System (EMS), with a minimum pass mark of 70%
• Certification issued with an anti-counterfeit hologram security seal, available both as a physical copy and as a soft (digital) copy
• Reflects the 2023 changes to fire risk assessment recording duties
• Explains the responsible person concept and what it actually requires
• Covers fire doors, compartmentation and why they fail in practice
• Addresses evacuation of people who cannot use stairs unaided
• Available fully online to learners in the UK and internationally

Knowledge developed:

• Fire behaviour, spread and the dominance of smoke as a cause of death
• The responsible person duty and current fire risk assessment requirements
• Detection, warning, escape routes, emergency lighting and signage
• Compartmentation, fire doors and why they fail
• Evacuation procedures, roles and arrangements for those needing assistance

Skills developed:

• Recognising ignition sources and accumulated combustible material
• Recognising obstructed escape routes and wedged or damaged fire doors
• Locating exits, alarm call points and assembly points in unfamiliar buildings
• Raising the alarm and evacuating promptly rather than investigating
• Judging when not to attempt to tackle a fire
• Supporting colleagues who need assistance to evacuate

This Award is suitable for all employees, and is particularly relevant for:

• Employees in any sector requiring fire safety induction
• Fire wardens and fire marshals requiring underpinning knowledge
• Supervisors, team leaders and line managers
• Business owners and those acting as the responsible person
• Facilities and premises managers
• Landlords, letting agents and property managers
• Care, healthcare and education staff
• Hospitality, retail and leisure personnel
• Warehouse and manufacturing operatives
• Contractors and visiting personnel
• Reception, security and gatehouse staff
• Health and safety advisers and coordinators

No prior qualification is required this Award is intended as an accessible entry point into the subject.

There are no formal academic prerequisites for this Level 1 Award. It is open to learners aged 16 and above with a reasonable standard of spoken and written English, sufficient to engage with course materials and complete the assessment. No prior knowledge is assumed.

Course content is structured around progressive learning blocks covering combustion and the fire triangle; fire spread mechanisms; common causes of workplace fire; smoke and toxic products; the responsible person and legal duties; fire risk assessment and recording requirements; cooperation between responsible persons; fire prevention and ignition source control; fire loading and storage; detection and warning systems; means of escape and travel distances; emergency lighting and signage; compartmentation and fire doors; why fire doors fail; fire-fighting equipment and its limitations; evacuation procedures and assembly points; fire warden roles; personal emergency evacuation arrangements; and arson prevention.

Assessment is conducted through an online examination via the Britsafe Examination Management System (EMS). Learners must achieve a minimum score of 70% to pass. On successful completion, learners receive a certificate, available both as a physical copy and as a soft (digital) copy. Results and certificates are typically issued promptly following successful completion.

While this Level 1 Award is a foundation awareness qualification rather than a specialist credential, it provides relevant grounding for roles and responsibilities including:

• Fire Warden or Fire Marshal
• Supervisor or Team Leader with evacuation responsibilities
• Facilities or Premises Assistant
• Property or Letting Manager
• Business Owner acting as responsible person
• Health and Safety Assistant or Coordinator
• A stepping stone toward fire risk assessment and fire safety management pathways

Offices and professional services

• Retail, hospitality and leisure
• Health and social care
• Education and public services
• Manufacturing and industrial premises
• Warehousing, logistics and distribution
• Property management and residential blocks
• Construction and refurbishment
• Charities and the voluntary sector
• Events and venues
• Any organisation occupying premises

• Supports compliance with fire safety legislation and the duties of the responsible person
• Ensures awareness of the 2023 recording changes, which many organisations have not implemented
• Improves reporting of wedged fire doors, obstructed exits and accumulated combustibles
• Reduces the risk of employees attempting to fight fires they should evacuate from
• Improves evacuation speed by addressing hesitation and information-seeking
• Supports personal emergency evacuation arrangements for those who need them
• Provides a consistent baseline for all staff, contractors and visitors
• Provides documented evidence of fire safety training for audit, insurance and enforcement purposes

• A recognised, portable credential relevant to every workplace
• Understanding of why smoke rather than flame is the danger
• A flexible short-course format (minimum 4 hours) that fits around any working pattern
• Knowledge that applies at home as well as at work
• Clarity about when to tackle a fire and when to leave
• A foundation for progression into fire warden and fire risk assessment routes

Learners can apply this qualification directly to:

• Locating exits, call points and assembly points on arrival in any building
• Raising the alarm immediately rather than investigating first
• Evacuating promptly by the nearest available route
• Reporting wedged, damaged or obstructed fire doors
• Reporting blocked escape routes, exits and stairways
• Removing accumulated packaging, waste and combustible storage
• Recognising ignition sources including heaters, chargers and hot work
• Reporting faults in detection, alarm and emergency lighting systems
• Using an extinguisher only where trained, safe and with a clear escape route
• Supporting colleagues who require assistance to evacuate
• Reporting external combustible storage and security weaknesses that invite arson

This Award is best positioned as a general foundation. Learners often progress into:

• Fire warden and fire marshal training
• Fire risk assessment training
• Practical fire extinguisher training
• Evacuation chair and assisted evacuation training
• Fire safety management qualifications
• First aid qualifications
• Level 2 and Level 3 occupational health and safety qualifications

• Fire warden and fire safety coordinator development
• Fire risk assessment and fire safety management routes
• Facilities and premises management pathways
• Property and building safety roles
• Professional membership routes with relevant fire and safety bodies

Britsafe Qualifications UK Limited delivers this qualification fully online, making it accessible to learners across the UK and internationally without the need to attend a physical training centre. Combustion, fire spread and the behaviour of smoke are the same everywhere, and the principles of detection, escape, compartmentation and evacuation are applied internationally. The legal framework described, including the responsible person duty and the 2023 recording changes, applies in England and Wales, with separate arrangements in Scotland and Northern Ireland, so learners should confirm the framework applicable to their own location.

1. What does this qualification cover?
It covers fire safety fundamentals: how fire starts and spreads, common causes, smoke and toxic products, the responsible person duty, fire risk assessment and recording requirements, prevention, detection and warning, escape routes, emergency lighting, compartmentation and fire doors, extinguishers and their limits, evacuation procedures, assisted evacuation and arson.

2. Who is the responsible person?
In most workplaces, the employer. More broadly it is the person who has control of the premises which may be the occupier, the owner, a managing agent or a landlord depending on the arrangement. In multi-occupied buildings there can be several responsible persons with duties over different parts, and since 2023 they are required to take reasonable steps to identify one another and cooperate.

3. Does anyone inspect and approve my premises?
No. Fire certificates were abolished when the current framework was introduced, and no external body approves a building as fire safe. The responsible person assesses the risk, determines the precautions and maintains them. Fire and rescue services enforce the legislation and may inspect, but an inspection is not an approval, and the absence of one is not evidence of compliance.

4. What changed in October 2023?
The requirement to record a fire risk assessment was extended to everyone. Previously, only employers with five or more employees, licensed premises and those served with an alterations notice had to record the significant findings. From 1 October 2023 all responsible persons must record the fire risk assessment in full, regardless of the size or purpose of the premises. The changes also require recording of fire safety arrangements, the identity of anyone engaged to carry out or review the assessment, and contact information, together with duties to identify and cooperate with other responsible persons and to provide fire safety information to residents of buildings containing two or more domestic premises.

5. Does a small business really need a written fire risk assessment now?
Yes. This is the change most likely to catch organisations out, because a great deal of published guidance and training material still describes the old five-employee threshold. A business with two employees is now subject to the same recording requirement as one with two hundred.

6. Why is smoke more dangerous than flame?
Because it arrives first, it disables people quickly and it is what most fire deaths are attributed to. Modern furnishings and building contents produce dense, black, highly toxic smoke within a very short time, containing carbon monoxide and other harmful products. It removes visibility, causes disorientation in familiar buildings and incapacitates people before flames reach them. This is why the correct response to discovering a fire is to raise the alarm and leave.

7. Why does it matter if a fire door is wedged open?
Because a fire door only works when it is closed. Compartmentation divides a building into sections so that fire and smoke are contained long enough for people to escape, and every open door is a hole in that arrangement. A fire door is also an engineered assembly: the self-closer, the intumescent strip that expands with heat, the smoke seal, the hinges and the gap around the frame all form part of its performance. A damaged closer or a missing strip is a defect, not a cosmetic issue.

8. Should I use a fire extinguisher?
Only where you have been trained, the fire is very small, you have a clear escape route behind you, and you can do so without putting yourself at risk. Extinguishers exist principally to clear an escape route or deal with something in its earliest moments. They are not a firefighting capability, they empty in a very short time, and the wrong type on the wrong fire makes matters worse. If there is any doubt, leaving is the correct decision.

9. What is the correct action on discovering a fire?
Raise the alarm, leave by the nearest available exit, close doors behind you where you can do so safely, and go to the assembly point. Do not stop to collect belongings, do not use lifts unless they are specifically provided for evacuation, and do not return for any reason until told it is safe. Investigating before raising the alarm is a common and costly delay.

10. What about people who cannot use stairs?
They need a personal plan made in advance. Standard evacuation arrangements assume people can walk down stairs, which leaves wheelchair users, people with mobility, sensory or cognitive impairments, and those with temporary injuries without a workable route. Personal emergency evacuation plans identify the route, the equipment and the people who will assist. Refuge areas and evacuation chairs are common elements, and both require the arrangements to have been made and practised beforehand.

11. How often should fire alarms and drills be carried out?
Alarm systems are tested regularly, typically weekly using a different call point each time so that all are proved over a period, and evacuation drills are carried out periodically as determined by the fire risk assessment. Emergency lighting is also tested on a defined regime. The specific intervals are set by the responsible person based on the assessment and applicable standards.

12. Why is arson relevant to workplace fire safety?
Because a significant proportion of workplace fires are started deliberately, and the fuel is frequently supplied by the premises themselves waste bins, pallets, packaging and combustible storage left against external walls overnight. Securing the perimeter, moving combustible material away from buildings and controlling waste accumulation are genuine fire prevention measures.

13. Does this qualification make me a fire warden or fire risk assessor?
No. Fire warden duties require specific training in the building’s own procedures, and fire risk assessment is a competent person activity requiring dedicated training and experience. This Award provides the underpinning knowledge and is a suitable starting point for both.

14. Does it include practical extinguisher use?
No. Practical extinguisher training involves handling live equipment and cannot be delivered online. This Award covers extinguisher types, their applications and their limitations, and organisations should provide practical training where staff may be expected to use them.

15. Who is this qualification aimed at?
All employees, fire wardens, supervisors, business owners, facilities and property managers, care and education staff, hospitality and retail personnel, contractors and anyone requiring fire safety induction.

16. Are there any entry requirements?
No formal prerequisites are required. Learners should have a reasonable standard of English and be aged 16 or above.

17. How long does the course take to complete?
The qualification has a minimum instructional contact time of 4 hours, making it a compact, focused course suitable for induction-level delivery.

18. How is the qualification assessed?
Through an online examination via the Britsafe Examination Management System, with a minimum pass mark of 70%.

19. What materials are provided with the course?
Learners receive digital (soft copy) course materials via the Britsafe learning management system. The course is delivered entirely online; there is no physical classroom attendance or physical course material.

20. What happens after I pass the exam?
Successful learners receive a certificate from Britsafe Qualifications UK Limited, featuring an anti-counterfeit hologram seal for authenticity. The certificate is available both as a physical copy and as a soft (digital) copy.

21. Is this qualification recognised internationally?
Yes. Britsafe Qualifications UK Limited delivers this qualification fully online to learners across the UK and internationally, though the legal framework described applies in England and Wales, with separate arrangements in Scotland and Northern Ireland and elsewhere.

22. Can this qualification lead to further study?
Yes. It provides a foundation for fire warden training, practical extinguisher training, fire risk assessment study, fire safety management qualifications and higher-level occupational health and safety study.