Basic Fire Safety Awareness
Course Overview
Every workplace needs staff who understand basic fire safety, and this fire safety awareness online course gives general employees exactly that foundation. It's approved by IFE, CPD, Gatehouse Awards, the Institute of Hospitality, IIRSM and IOSH, runs for 60 minutes, and costs £25.00 +VAT, with a fire safety training certificate issued on completion.
Course Content
The fire triangle and how fire spreads
Fire needs three elements to start and continue burning: heat, fuel and oxygen. This is the fire triangle, and removing any one of these elements is the basic principle behind almost every method of fire prevention and extinguishing. The course also covers the chemistry of fire in more depth, explaining how fire spreads through four distinct mechanisms: direct burning, conduction, convection and radiation. Understanding how a fire travels through a building is just as important as understanding how it starts.
Recognising the dangers of smoke
Smoke is often more immediately dangerous than flames themselves, since smoke inhalation causes the majority of fire-related deaths. The course covers why smoke is so hazardous and how it behaves differently to fire itself, spreading faster and reducing visibility and breathable air quickly.
Fire safety at work: the law behind this course
Fire safety at work training exists because of the Regulatory Reform (Fire Safety) Order 2005 (RRFSO 2005), the core fire safety legislation for non-domestic premises in England and Wales. It places a duty on the "Responsible Person," typically the employer, to carry out a fire risk assessment, put reasonable precautions in place, and ensure staff receive adequate fire safety information and training.
Fire safety features and evacuation basics
The course covers the fire safety features found in most workplaces, and their role in prevention, management and evacuation: fire alarms and detection systems, emergency lighting, signage, and fire doors. It explains how these features work together as part of a wider evacuation plan, not as standalone items.
What to do if you discover a fire
A simple response framework often taught alongside basic fire safety e-learning is RACE: Rescue anyone in immediate danger, raise the Alarm, Contain the fire if it's safe to do so by closing doors, and Evacuate. This isn't a legal requirement in itself, but a widely used memory aid to help people act calmly and in the right order.
Fire extinguisher types
The course covers the main fire extinguisher classes and which type suits which category of fire, so staff can make a safe, informed choice if they ever need to tackle a small fire rather than reaching for the wrong extinguisher on an electrical or flammable liquid fire.
Who needs this course?
This basic fire safety course is suitable for any employee as part of general fire safety induction. It's foundation-level awareness rather than an appointed-role qualification.
How this differs from Fire Marshal
This course is genuinely different from our Fire Marshal course, not just a shorter version of it. Basic Fire Safety Awareness gives general staff the knowledge to reduce fire risk and evacuate safely themselves. Fire Marshal is for people taking on the appointed fire marshal or warden role, leading evacuations, sweeping areas and managing the assembly point, and its own course description confirms it already includes all of this course's content plus the marshal-specific responsibilities. If you only need general staff induction, this course is right; if someone needs to be appointed as a marshal, book that course instead.
What you'll learn
By the end of the course, you'll be able to:
● Define the common causes of fire and understand how to reduce their risk
● Understand the chemistry of fire and how it spreads through four specified methods
● Recognise the dangers of smoke
● Identify fire safety features and understand their role in prevention, management and evacuation
● Understand the risks to consider if you discover a fire
● Recognise different types of fire extinguisher and when to use them
Course Duration
60 mins
Course Certification
Approved by IFE, CPD, Gatehouse Awards, Institute of Hospitality, IIRSM & IOSH
