Today’s correspondent has a
… question related to the evacuation of staff during an Emergency Evacuation (specifically a Fire Alarm).
I am a (voluntary) Floor Warden, but this morning during an evac, several staff chose not to leave – believing the staff kitchen toaster was the cause. And it was.
My question is this, do I have any authority in NSW to insist my colleagues to evacuate our workplace during an Emergency Evacuation (Fire Alarm)? The Fire Officer that visited our floor to check the cause asked my colleagues why they hadn’t evacuated. They naturally lied and said they had.
I’ve been told by Trainers that Wardens do have authority, and that any person that refuses to leave should be noted and reported to the Senior Warder and Fire Officers. Wardens are to relay the information on evacuation, noting any objectors/remainers.
Do you have anything on that specifically?
Fire wardens do not have any authority to insist that colleagues evacuate. It’s true you should, if possible, note who has refused to evacuate and report that to the senior warden or fire brigade but that is not a power to insist on evacuation.
That information is important for the fire brigade who may have to make a decision to enter the building immediately to exercise their power under the Fire and Rescue NSW Act 1989 (NSW) s 19 and ‘cause to be removed any person, … the presence of whom … might, in the officer’s opinion, interfere with the work of any fire brigade’; or enter the building later to recover their bodies.
Australian Emergency Law 
I knew a policeman who had a line that always worked when people refused to evacuate in the face of a bushfire: “Can I have the name of your dentist then?”
Trainers say that wardens do have authority of their workplace and under WHS Laws. The employee who fails a direction of a Warden is putting themselves at risk which contravenes the WHS Act
28 Duties of workers
While at work, a worker must:
(a) take reasonable care for his or her own health and safety, and
(b) take reasonable care that his or her acts or omissions do not adversely affect the health and safety of other persons, and
(c) comply, so far as the worker is reasonably able, with any reasonable instruction that is given by the person conducting the business or undertaking to allow the person to comply with this Act, and
(d) co-operate with any reasonable policy or procedure of the person conducting the business or undertaking relating to health or safety at the workplace that has been notified to workers.
The authority is given to them by the PCBU and the WHS Act.
43 Duty to prepare, maintain and implement emergency plan
(1) A person conducting a business or undertaking at a workplace must ensure that an emergency plan is prepared for the workplace, that provides for the following:
(a) emergency procedures, including:
(i) an effective response to an emergency, and
(ii) evacuation procedures, and
(iii) notifying emergency service organisations at the earliest opportunity, and
(iv) medical treatment and assistance, and
(v) effective communication between the person authorised by the person conducting the business or undertaking to coordinate the emergency response and all persons at the workplace,
(b) testing of the emergency procedures, including the frequency of testing,
(c) information, training and instruction to relevant workers in relation to implementing the emergency procedures.
Maximum penalty:
(a) in the case of an individual—$6,000, or
(b) in the case of a body corporate—$30,000.
(2) A person conducting a business or undertaking at a workplace must maintain the emergency plan for the workplace so that it remains effective.
Maximum penalty:
(a) in the case of an individual—$6,000, or
(b) in the case of a body corporate—$30,000.
(3) For the purposes of subclauses (1) and (2), the person conducting the business or undertaking must have regard to all relevant matters, including the following:
(a) the nature of the work being carried out at the workplace,
(b) the nature of the hazards at the workplace,
(c) the size and location of the workplace,
(d) the number and composition of the workers and other persons at the workplace.
(4) A person conducting a business or undertaking at a workplace must implement the emergency plan for the workplace in the event of an emergency.
Maximum penalty:
(a) in the case of an individual—$6,000, or
(b) in the case of a body corporate—$30,000.
Part of an emergency plan is to have Wardens to implement the plan. These wardens should should be trained to AS 3745.
So the workers that refused to leave, given the wardens were given the authority by the PCBU to implement the Emergency Plan has not followed reasonable requests by the PCBU.
Would I be correct?
You may be correct that the person’s who refuse to leave have failed to comply with a reasonable direction of their employer (assuming they are all employees) but none of that gives the warden authority to insist or more precisely force them to leave. Of course a warden can say ‘you have to go’ but if they don’t they don’t have the power to use force. And if you can’t use force you cannot do anything. Sure report it and the employer may go and have words to them. They may even have committed an offence (though I suspect workcover would have no interest in prosecuting someone for failing to evacuate a building) but just because person ‘a’ is committing an offence it doesn’t given person ‘b’ (the warden) any power. The warden can say ‘evacuate now’ and if the person says ‘no’ that’s the end of it. The warden not only cannot use force he or she probably doesn’t want to stand at the door arguing the point and both go up in flames.
Given 95% of alarms are false alarms which automatically escalate from ‘alert’ to ‘evacuate’ tone, can the fire warden over rule the evacuation alarm if it is determined to be a false alarm? I am assuming the warden is trained to make this assessment and the option of overruling the alarm is included in the company’s evacuation procedures.
If the ‘warden is trained to make this assessment and the option of overruling the alarm is included in the company’s evacuation procedures’ then of course they could, but that would not compel the fire brigade to turn back if they have already turned out.
Hi, I am curious as to whether there are historical cases in NSW where individuals have been fined or taken to court for not evacuating from a PCBU during a fire alarm, and if so, what it due to a WHS Act breach or related to Fire and Rescue NSW Act 19? Also if not in NSW, perhaps in other states?
For context, I am in the data collection phase of my Doctoral research into university evacuations. I am looking at factors that influence a person’s compliance and behaviours during a standard fire alarm. Something that I have unexpectedly come across is that a lot of participants have said that they believed it was against the law not to evacuate the building and they could be fined etc. However, I was under the impression it wasn’t that simple, and that it is extremely unlikely unless the individual was deliberately impeding the work of a firefighter, which is not something I would envision a sane person to do. The only thing that the person is at risk is losing their job as failing to comply with reasonable orders from a warden is often part of the standard code of conduct at a workplace.
I am not aware of any case, in NSW or any Australian jurisdiction of a person being ‘fined or taken to court for not evacuating from a PCBU during a fire alarm’. It may be a breach of the WHS Act (s 28 duty of worker to comply with WHS policies, procedures and directions and WHS regulations with respect to emergency plans) to but I cannot see why any worksafe inspector would care enough to fine anyone. I cannot see that it’s an offence under the Fire and Rescue NSW Act.
Thank you so much for clearing that up so swiftly! I didn’t see anything either in the Fire and Safety Act that would suggest it was something they could enforce but it has come up a few times, including people that have said that firefighters have threatened to fine them for non-compliance! Thanks again 🙂
the penalty for failing to evacuate on the sounding of an alarm is a painful death by exposure to flame or smoke inhalation.