Fire safety training: frequency and authorised trainers

Many companies do not think about fire safety training until an inspection by the fire service is announced or an insurance adjuster calls after a minor fire. In both cases, sooner or later, the same question arises: when did you last train your employees in fire safety, and how can you prove it? Saying “we already provide occupational health and safety training” will not be enough—fire safety training is a separate requirement with its own content, intervals and documentation.

We will explain who needs training and why the fire hazard category of the activities carried out matters, how employee training differs from management training and the professional preparation of fire safety officers and preventive fire patrols, what the training should cover, and how to maintain a syllabus and attendance records that remain reliable years later.

In brief:

• Employees: Training must be repeated at least once every two years (zákon o požární ochraně and prováděcí vyhláška o požární prevenci).
• Managers: Training must be repeated at least once every three years (zákon o požární ochraně and prováděcí vyhláška o požární prevenci).
• Who may provide training: Management training and professional preparation are expected to be delivered by an odborně způsobilá osoba or a technik požární ochrany; ordinary employees may typically also be trained by their manager once that manager has received the appropriate training (zákon o požární ochraně and prováděcí vyhláška o požární prevenci).

Why everything starts with the fire hazard category

Czech fire safety regulations divide activities into three categories according to their level of fire hazard: activities without an increased fire hazard, activities with an increased fire hazard, and activities with a high fire hazard. The duty to provide regular fire safety training applies to the two higher categories—as does the duty to establish preventive fire patrols and provide their professional preparation. We explain the classification process and the associated documentation in detail in our article on fire safety in the workplace.

For training purposes, this leads to a straightforward sequence:

• Without an increased fire hazard—typically small administrative offices or minor service operations. Regulations do not require regular fire safety training here, but basic fire safety topics such as escape routes, fire extinguishers and reporting a fire belong in the occupational health and safety training required of every employer.
• With an increased fire hazard—this category includes many manufacturing companies, warehouses and larger business premises. Regular training becomes mandatory for both employees and managers, usually together with professional preparation for fire safety officers and preventive fire patrols.
• With a high fire hazard—the strictest regime; in practice, training and professional preparation are provided by an odborně způsobilá osoba.

The practical consequence is that before deciding how often training should take place, you need documented classification of your activities. Without it, the required scope of training is merely a matter of speculation—and in practice, an inspection begins by asking which category you fall into and on what basis.

Three separate activities, three separate intervals

Czech fire safety regulations do not define one universal form of “fire safety training”, but several separate activities. Each is intended for a different group, has different content and must be repeated by a different deadline:

These are the maximum permitted intervals under Czech fire safety regulations; references to the relevant statutory provisions are included in the linked article on fire safety in the workplace. Internal fire safety documentation may require more frequent repetition, particularly where staff turnover is high, shifts are used or higher-risk technologies are involved. In addition to regular refresher training, employees must also receive training when they change workplace or job role if this changes the fire hazards to which they are exposed. Moving an accountant from the back office to a dispatch area in a flammable-materials warehouse is a new situation from a fire safety perspective, even if the employment contract remains unchanged.

At first glance, it may seem odd that managers have a longer interval than ordinary employees even though their training is broader. The reasoning is that managers are continuously responsible for organising fire safety in their area—which makes it all the more important that their training is not reduced to signing the same attendance sheet as their subordinates.

The following groups are also often overlooked when training is planned:

• temporary and casual workers—they work in the same workplace and face the same fire hazards as permanent employees,
• agency workers—in practice, they are included in the training system of the organisation whose workplace they use,
• external personnel working on the premises—service technicians, cleaners and long-term contractors; where activities with an increased fire hazard are carried out, they are also expected to be informed about the risks,
• people responsible for fire safety outside normal working hours—security staff, reception or gatehouse personnel and night-shift workers; they need to know what to do in a building when nobody else is present.

Employee vs management training: the same subject at a different depth

An ordinary employee needs to know what to do when they discover a fire: how to raise the alarm, which way to evacuate, where the nearest fire extinguisher is and what it must not be used on. A manager also needs a second layer of knowledge—how to organise fire safety in the area under their responsibility:

• what the workplace fire safety documentation requires of them, including the fire safety rules, fire alarm instructions and evacuation plan,
• how to monitor conditions in their area: clear escape routes, accessible fire extinguishers and energy shut-off points, and compliance with smoking restrictions and rules for working with open flames,
• what to do if a fire occurs: evacuating subordinates, reporting the fire, cooperating with the fire service and recording the incident,
• what to do with identified defects and where to record them.

It is therefore a mistake in practice to “train” managers together with ordinary employees using the same syllabus. The difference quickly becomes apparent during an inspection or after a real incident: a manager who does not know the applicable fire alarm instructions is a weak point for the company, regardless of their signature on an attendance sheet.

Professional preparation: fire safety officers and preventive fire patrols

The third type of activity is not training in the usual sense, but preparation for people who have a specific fire safety role.

A fire safety officer conducts preventive fire inspections of the workplace and records the findings, typically in the fire logbook. Their professional preparation therefore focuses on recognising problems during an inspection: pallets blocking an escape route, an obstructed fire hydrant, extension leads running under a carpet or overdue fire extinguisher inspections.

A preventive fire patrol is established in areas where activities with an increased or high fire hazard are carried out—usually where at least three employees work in the area concerned. The patrol monitors compliance with fire safety regulations and takes the necessary measures if a fire occurs: assisting with evacuation, calling for help and attempting an initial response where it is safe to do so.

Professional preparation for both roles must be repeated at least once a year and should include a practical component as well as theory. Patrol members must know their assigned positions, equipment and duties in the specific facility, rather than merely attending a generic presentation. It is worth keeping the list of patrol members up to date: after two people leave a three-shift operation, the patrol may continue to exist only on paper—and that is likely to be discovered at the worst possible moment.

What the training should cover

The fire safety training syllabus must reflect the organisation’s fire safety documentation and its actual operations. In practice, it mainly covers:

1. the organisation and provision of fire safety within the company and the duties arising from Czech fire safety regulations,
2. the fire hazards associated with the specific activities carried out—what can actually catch fire at your site, such as flammable liquids, dust, charging stations or welding operations,
3. familiarisation with the documentation: workplace fire safety rules, fire alarm instructions and the fire evacuation plan,
4. the location and use of fire extinguishers and other fire safety equipment—the training is directly linked to annual fire extinguisher inspections and record-keeping,
5. how to raise the fire alarm and call for assistance, including the designated fire reporting point where one has been established,
6. escape routes, exits and the assembly point following evacuation,
7. workplace-specific factors: welding and other work involving open flames, charging areas for handling equipment and e-bikes, flammable-materials storage and lithium batteries.

The most common weakness is not a missing item in the syllabus, but a lack of site-specific detail. A presentation downloaded from the internet that does not reflect your fire alarm instructions or the location of your equipment may have formally “taken place”, but it will help nobody during either a fire or an inspection. Good training uses the layout of your premises, your instructions and the risks associated with your technologies. Ideally, it also includes walking the escape route and a live demonstration of a fire extinguisher.

Documentation: syllabus and attendance record

In practice, two things must be documented for fire safety training: what was taught and who completed the training.

The syllabus and timetable describe the content of each type of training and professional preparation, together with the time allocated to individual topics. Separate versions are prepared for employee training, management training and each type of professional preparation. This is where it becomes clear whether a company genuinely distinguishes between the three different activities or uses a single document for everything.

The training record (attendance sheet) must link a specific person to a specific training session. A usable record includes:

• the date and place,
• the type of activity (employee training, management training or professional preparation),
• the syllabus or a reference to the relevant syllabus and the duration,
• the name, qualifications and signature of the person who delivered the training,
• a list of participants by name, with their handwritten signatures,
• the method used to verify knowledge, if applicable,
• the date of the next training session.

Common practical mistakes include using a single “occupational health and safety + fire safety” attendance sheet without distinguishing the content and time allocated to each part; managers signing the attendance sheet intended for ordinary employees; records without a date or trainer’s signature; and a new employee waiting six months for a “group session” while working on the premises from day one. Documentation may also be maintained electronically—the key requirement is that it proves who completed what, when and to what extent.

It is worth tracking deadlines in the same way as inspections. A simple table showing the type of activity, the date it was last completed and the final deadline for the next session takes only a few rows and prevents arguments over whether the two-year interval in a shift-based operation actually expired last year.

Who may provide training—and who can arrange everything for you

Under Czech fire safety regulations, the person permitted to carry out each activity depends on the fire hazard category and the type of activity. Put simply, the higher the category and the more specialised the activity, the more qualified the person must be. Management training and professional preparation are expected to be delivered by an odborně způsobilá osoba or a technik požární ochrany; ordinary employees may typically also be trained by their manager once that manager has received the appropriate training. The precise arrangements for your workplace should be determined alongside the classification of its activities.

Small and medium-sized companies do not usually put this system together themselves. An external fire safety provider can classify the activities carried out, prepare the syllabuses, deliver both training and professional preparation, issue the records and monitor deadlines—and stand beside you during an inspection rather than opposite you.

Fire safety training is commonly scheduled together with occupational health and safety training, as their syllabuses overlap in areas such as evacuation and first aid. Our article on occupational health and safety training for employees explains how to organise that part. When the two are delivered during a combined session, each must have its own section in the syllabus and its own time allocation, and the documentation must provide separate evidence for each. A single generic attendance sheet headed “training” proves neither.

Sources for this article

• Fire safety – SOHE services for businesses.
• Fire safety in the workplace: required documentation, inspections and deadlines – fire hazard categories, mandatory fire safety documentation and references to the relevant provisions of zákon o požární ochraně and vyhláška o požární prevenci.
• Occupational health and safety training for employees – intervals, content and documentation for occupational health and safety training, which is often combined with fire safety training.
• Fire extinguisher inspections in the workplace – inspection intervals and records for the fire safety equipment covered by the training.
• The categories of activities and maximum intervals are based on the current wording of Czech fire safety regulations—zákon o požární ochraně and prováděcí vyhláška o požární prevenci.

This article is for information purposes and does not constitute legal advice. The specific scope, intervals and syllabuses must be determined according to the actual workplace, the classification of its activities and its fire safety documentation.

Unsure which category you fall into, who should form your preventive fire patrol or when each person’s training expires? We can set up your fire safety training—from activity classification and syllabuses to attendance records. Send us a no-obligation enquiry or email info@sohe.cz, and we will agree on a scope that reflects your operations.