Fire Safety Advisor Training FAQ

• Who is responsible for appointing a Fire Safety Adviser?
• How are 'High Occupancy buildings' defined?
• What is a Fire Safety Adviser?
• Where can a Fire Safety Adviser attend training?
• What duties can a Fire Safety Adviser undertake?
• Does the Fire Safety Adviser have to be a person on staff?
• How many Fire Safety Advisers should the occupier appoint?
• If I have a Fire Safety Adviser do I still need Building Fire Wardens?
• What is the timeframe for appointment of a Fire Safety Adviser?
• Where can I go for more information?

If you are the owner, or a business or person, that is occupying, or managing a building in Queensland you have legal obligations to ensure the safety of any person in that building in the event of a fire or other emergency.

It is the building occupier's responsibility to appoint and train a FSA for buildings that are classified as high occupancy.

High occupancy buildings include:

• Class 2, 3, 5, 6, 7b, 8, 9a or 9b buildings that are workplaces where 30 or more workers are normally employed.
• Class 2 or 3 buildings that are more than 25 metres in height.
• Licensed premises that have been identified by the Commissioner as at risk of overcrowding.

A FSA is person who holds a building fire safety qualification for an approved building fire safety course, issued within the last 3 years

The approved building fire safety course comprises 8 units of competency in
Workplace Emergency Response within the Australian Quality Training Framework.  They are:

• PUAWER001A - Identify, prevent and report potential workplace emergency situations
• PUAWER002A - Ensure workplace emergency prevention procedures, systems and processes are implemented
• PUAWER003A - Manage and monitor workplace emergency, procedures, equipment and other resources
• PUAWER004A - Respond to workplace emergencies
• PUAWER005A - Operate as part of an emergency control organisation
• PUAWER006A - Lead an emergency control organisation
• PUAWER007A - Manage an emergency control organisation
• PUAWER008A - Confine small workplace emergencies

The FSA qualification must be gained through a Registered Training Organisation (RTO).  Any RTO which has the above-identified competencies within its scope may deliver the approved qualification.

A FSA is required to:

• Review - Evacuation plans and procedures
• Provide or arrange - First response evacuation instruction
• Provide or arrange - Evacuation coordination instructions

There is no requirement for the FSA to be a person on staff.  However, it is recommended that where practical the FSA is an existing staff member.  Some reasons for this recommendation are:

• The occupier and staff have an easily accessible point of contact about fire safety matters
• The FSA is likely to have familiarity with the occupier’s buildings and knowledge of protocols and fire safety arrangements internal to the organisation
• The FSA is more easily accessible for coordination of fire safety arrangements
• The FSA may easily be made aware of changes within the building or staff appointments or changes within the organisation
• Attending fire officers and licensed contractors engaged to maintain the fire safety installations for the organisation have a point of contact
• The FSA may, on behalf of the occupier, liaise with other FSAs in a multi-tenanted building to ensure that evacuation plans and procedures and coordinated

Occupancies with Workplace Health and Safety Officers may choose to nominate and train those persons as the FSA.

An FSA can be appointed for more than one building.

For example, a university may have one or more FSAs to cover its campus, or a company which has suites of offices in one or more buildings in any city or town may appoint one or more FSAs to cover those buildings.

When considering how many FSAs to appoint for high occupancy buildings, assessment should be made of the workload of the FSA to be effective in this important workplace role.

A FSA is one who has been trained in fire safety and workplace emergency response.

Having a FSA does not mean that building fire wardens are no longer required.  A FSA is not necessarily building-specific and so may not be present in the building if a fire occurs.  However, Building Fire Wardens are building-specific.

Under the transitional provisions contained in the Building Fire Safety Regulation 2008, existing high occupancies have until 1 July 2009 to appoint and train FSAs.

New high occupancies established before 1 July 2009, must appoint and train a FSA by the later date of either 1 July 2009 or 1 month after the occupation of the new building.

If a FSA ceases to act as the FSA, or the FSA’s building fire safety qualification is no longer current, the occupier must appoint a person to the FSA role within one month of the change.

If you require further information regarding FSAs or the Building Fire Safety Regulation 2008, please email fireris@emergency.qld.gov.au.