There is a red cylinder on the wall of almost every workplace in the country, and most of the people walking past it each day could not tell you what is inside it or what would happen if they used it on the wrong fire.
Water on an electrical fault. CO2 on burning oil. A small incident that could have been smothered in seconds turning into an evacuation, or worse, because someone grabbed the nearest extinguisher and hoped for the best.
Getting that decision right takes knowledge, not instinct, and it also takes knowing when the right answer is to leave the extinguisher on its bracket and get out. Our online fire extinguisher course covers both halves of that judgement, taking around 25 minutes to work through and carrying approval from RoSPA and CPD.
What The Fire Extinguisher Course Covers
The training is built around three short modules that follow the sequence a real situation would. It opens on the extinguishers themselves, working through the types found in UK workplaces, what each one contains and the classes of fire each is designed to deal with. Colour coding, contents and suitability are the practical knowledge that turns a row of identical-looking cylinders into a set of tools someone can choose between.
The second module deals with everything that happens before anyone touches an extinguisher. Raising the alarm, assessing whether the fire is small enough to tackle, checking there is a clear route out behind you and knowing when the honest answer is to leave it alone. That pre-engagement judgement is where most poor outcomes originate, and it gets proper attention rather than a passing mention.
Only then does the course move on to actually using an extinguisher: positioning, technique, what to watch for and when to abandon the attempt. Worth noting that this final module demands a full 100% pass mark, unlike the 70% required elsewhere in the course. There is no margin for partial understanding at the point where someone is standing in front of a fire.
Why Your Workplace Needs Fire Extinguisher Training
Provision of firefighting equipment is only half of an employer’s responsibility. The Regulatory Reform (Fire Safety) Order 2005 applies to every workplace in England and Wales regardless of headcount, and it requires employers to provide adequate fire awareness training for all staff. Extinguishers that nobody has been trained to use are equipment sitting idle, and they will not help you demonstrate that you have discharged your duties.
There is a safety argument that matters just as much. An untrained person tackling a fire with the wrong medium can spread it, generate toxic fumes or receive an electric shock, and someone who commits to fighting a fire without first checking their escape route can end up cut off. Training does not just teach people how to use the equipment, it teaches them the far more important skill of recognising the fires they should walk away from.
Which Staff Should Take Fire Extinguisher Training
Anyone who might realistically be first on the scene benefits from this course. In smaller businesses that means everybody, since there is rarely anyone else to hand. In larger organisations it typically covers nominated fire marshals, wardens, supervisors, maintenance and facilities staff, and anyone working in higher-risk areas such as kitchens, workshops, plant rooms or wherever hot works and flammable materials are part of the day.
The course also complements broader fire training rather than duplicating it. Where general fire awareness training gives every employee the grounding to prevent fires and evacuate safely, this one adds the specific competence to intervene.
Most businesses need more than one level of fire safety training in place, with baseline awareness across the workforce and deeper knowledge held by nominated individuals. Deciding who those individuals are usually comes down to what the fire warden role involves day to day and which staff are realistically placed to carry it.
Course Delivery, Certification And Learning Outcomes
Everything is completed online through our e-learning library, at each learner’s own pace, with the whole course running to roughly 25 minutes of content. Questions appear as learners progress, so understanding is confirmed module by module. Requirements are minimal: a current web browser, up-to-date video drivers, at least 1GB of RAM and broadband at 3Mb or above.
Everyone who passes receives a certificate approved by RoSPA and CPD, with the course also recognised by IIRSM, Gatehouse Awards, the Institute of Hospitality and IOSH, giving you documented evidence for your fire safety records.
By the end of it, your staff will be able to:
- Identify the different types of fire extinguisher found in workplace settings.
- Understand when, where and which extinguisher is appropriate for a given fire.
- Know what actions to take on discovering a fire, including when not to tackle it.
Get Your Team Trained On Fire Extinguishers
Twenty-five minutes of training is a small investment against the difference between someone dealing with a small fire competently and someone making it considerably worse. It also puts a certificate in your records showing that the extinguishers on your walls are backed by people who know how to use them.
You can buy the course now directly from the fire extinguisher training page and have staff starting within minutes, or have a word with our team about putting a group of employees through together.
Businesses wanting nominated staff trained in more depth can look at online fire marshal training, while those preferring hands-on instruction will find our classroom-based fire marshal courses in Wirral cover practical extinguisher work in person. The full range sits within our fire safety training courses.