This is a reasonable question. In these times of tight financial margins and social distancing, it would seem like a good solution to use e-learning to satisfy your statutory obligations. But is it good enough?
E-learning courses are offered by many companies from as little as £5 per delegate. Students can participate at a time to suit them, or you. It doesn’t need a large number of employees to attend at the same time. So that makes them look like a really attractive option, doesn’t it?
So does it meet the conditions of the regulatory reform order? Well, as the legislation is self-regulatory the simple answer is maybe, and maybe not. It would depend upon your risk assessment, the complexity of your premises, and the nature of the hazards. Ultimately the answer would only be definitive if something went wrong and a court found the training inadequate. But that’s a high stakes strategy for testing the question. So let’s look at what the Order states around training.
Article 13(3)(b) States that the responsible person should: nominate competent persons to implement those measures and ensure that the number of such persons, their training and the equipment available to them is adequate, taking into account the size of, and the specific hazards involved in, the premises concerned;
So, the key phrase here is ‘their training …. are adequate, taking into account the size of and specific hazards involved…’ This means that the question would probably be a yes if the e-learning is specific to your premises, and potentially no if not.
However, perhaps it is okay to do generic e-learning for fire awareness, then ask staff to read the risk assessment. The challenge here comes from article 19, which states:
19.—(1) The responsible person must provide his employees with comprehensible and relevant information on—
(a)the risks to them identified by the risk assessment;
(b)the preventive and protective measures;
(c)the procedures and the measures referred to in article 15(1)(a);
(d)the identities of those persons nominated by him in accordance with article 13(3)(b) or appointed in accordance with article 15(1)(b); and
(e)the risks notified to him in accordance with article 22(1)(c).
So here again it would appear to point to a need for bespoke training designed to meet your specific risks and fire precautions, by the use of comprehensible and relevant.
Of course, if this points to e-learning being the wrong solution for you, you would probably need to assure yourself that the training provider you engage is able to offer tailored training also.
At West Yorkshire Fire Training, our courses are built around your risk assessment and premises. Prior to the course, we will meet with you to discuss your risk assessment, take a tour of your premises, and ensure the presentation is built around them. We also seek to include practical exercises where possible to underpin this tailored approach.
