Hotel employee training
Training requirements
Minnesota State Fire Code 406 requires that employees receive training in the contents of the facility’s fire safety and evacuation plans and their duties under those plans as part of new employee orientation and at least annually thereafter. Records must be kept of this training and must be made available to the fire code official upon request.
As outlined in MN State Fire Code 406.3, the employee training program must, at a minimum, include the following:
- Fire prevention training. Employees shall be apprised of the fire hazards of the materials and processes to which they are exposed. Each employee shall be instructed in the proper procedures for preventing fires in the conduct of their assigned duties.
- Evacuation training. Employees shall be familiarized with the fire alarm and evacuation signals, their assigned duties in the event of an alarm or emergency, evacuation routes, areas of refuge, exterior assembly areas and procedures for evacuation.
- Emergency lockdown training. Where a facility has a lockdown plan, employees shall be trained on their assigned duties and procedures in the event of an emergency lockdown.
- Fire safety training. Employees assigned fire-fighting duties shall be trained to know the locations and proper use of portable fire extinguishers or other manual fire-fighting equipment and the protective clothing or equipment required for its safe and proper use.
Employee training
To make it easier for staff to remember what to do during an emergency, the acronym RACE (Rescue…Alarm...Confine...Extinguish) is commonly used (Note: The specific circumstances of a fire and/or the number of staff available may dictate that these actions occur in a different sequence or may even occur simultaneously.)
- Rescue of persons in immediate danger should always be a Number One priority.
- Activate the building fire alarm to warn other building occupants and summon help.
- Confine the fire by closing the door to the room of origin.
- Extinguish the fire only if safe to do so.
Training must address the type of response expected by not only staff in the immediate area of origin, but also staff on other floors. Training must also address how the fire alarm system (if installed) operates as well as contacting 911.
This only scratches the surface – there is much more that needs to be covered as part of new employee orientation and annual staff training. In the end, the goal is to have a properly trained staff that can perform its duties efficiently, while ensuring that they provide for their own safety and do not create a hazard to others in the performance of those duties.
Document your training
Almost as important as conducting the training is documenting the fact that it occurred. A sample form has been developed to serve as a guide that you can use in creating your own training record.
It’s important that at least two people in your facility know where your training records are kept increasing the likelihood that they can be readily provided if requested during an inspection. It is recommended that these records be maintained for at least three years.