Welcome to Uppsala University's basic fire safety training

Uppsala University is the workplace and place of study for thousands of employees and students. Further, there are many collections comprising valuable, unique and irreplaceable objects. A fire could have devastating consequences. Therefore, all employees need to have a basic knowledge of fire safety, which is provided in this course.

After completing the programme, the aim is for you to have:

knowledge of systematic fire protection work
knowledge of the causes of fires, different methods of extinguishing a fire
familiarity with evacuation procedures

The practical part of the training (extinguishing fire) can be taken part in on your campus.

To be prepared and properly trained can help save lives and prevent, or limit, material damage!

The video gives a summary of systematic fire safety work, and is optional. It was created using Gemini-AI.

Course overview

The course consists of eight parts:

Laws
Responsibility
Fire safety representative
Systematic Fire Protection (SBA)
Fire Theory
Extinguishing equipment
Technical fire detection
Evacuation

Laws and regulations

According to the Act on Protection against Accidents (Swedish: Lagen om skydd mot olyckor 2003:778), it's the owner of a building, as well as the tenant, who are responsible for the fire safety. This means that the owner and the tenant have an obligation to take the necessary measures to prevent fire, to prevent fires from spreading, to limit the damage that may arise from a fire, and to ensure that fire safety equipment is available on the premises. In order to meet the requirements for an acceptable level of fire safety you need to perform systematic fire safety work. This includes organizational fire safety measures such as training employees and designing effective fire safety procedures.

Your responsibility

The Act on Protection against Accidents (Swedish: Lagen om skydd mot olyckor 2003: 778) also focuses on individual responsibility. What you should do, if possible, is to warn those in danger and, if necessary, call for help. Also if possible, you should make an attempt at extinguishing any flames you see or help those in direct danger, but only if you can avoid risking your own life.

The University’s responsibility

Uppsala University's fire protection policy: "The aim of fire protection at the university is to protect people, property and the environment. The safety and security of people shall always be a priority."' In the properties that Uppsala University rents, we are the tenant. Depending on which property owner we rent from, the fire safety agreements may look different. But the lowest level stipulated in the law must always be achieved. The purpose of the facilities will also affect the design of the fire safety. Is it a laboratory or office environment? Is your fire safety appropriate for the activities in the facilities or do you need anything else? It is important that you review your own workplace, do YOU have what is needed or do you need something more to achieve reasonable fire protection in your premises?

Uppsala university's fire safety organization

Uppsala University's fire safety organization extends from the vice-chancellor to all employees. In other words, ALL employees are included in the fire safety organization. If everyone contributes, we will achieve a good fire safety at the University, not only for people but also for our property, research results and the environment.

The vice-chancellor is ultimately responsible for the fire safety at Uppsala University.
The chief security officer coordinates the University's fire safety with help from security officers.
The head of department is responsible for the fire safety at the department according to the vice-chancellor's decision and appoints a fire safety officer and chemical officer.
The campus manager assist the head of department and is responsible for coordinating security work within the area of the campus.

Everyone has a responsibility

As mentioned earlier, everyone has a responsibility to actively participate in the daily fire safety work. Active participation may take different forms. Some things you can do are following:

Do not place flammable objects along the escape routes.
Do not prop fire doors open.
If you notice a broken door or reference luminaire, report it to your fire safety officer or head of department.
Limit the amount of flammables in the lab.
Attend fire safety training.

We can't do everything, but everyone can do something.

Fire safety officers

The fire safety officers are an important part of the fire safety organization. At each department, the head of the department designates one, or more if required, fire safety officers, depending on the size and needs of the department. Fire safety officers are the departments' spokesperson in fire safety questions. The fire safety officer's tasks:

Participate in meetings and education about fire safety.
Participate in the Fire Department's inspections.
Report any weaknesses, and/or correct them if possible
Identify, assess and report deficiencies in the fire safety (in addition to fire protection controls).
Support and assist employees at the department in fire safety issues.
Educate and inform new employees about fire safety and procedures at the department (if no other procedure exists).
Have a continuous and responsive contact with staff at the department to alert the head of the department early on if there are any fire safety flaws.
If the fire safety officer is on site, initiate evacuation according to current procedures when the evacuation alarm sounds (if no other routine exists).
Have continuous contact with the chemical officer (in place where flammables are handled).

Systematic fire safety work (SBA)

According to the Act on protection against accidents 2 kap. 2 §, (Swedish: Lagen om skydd mot olyckor 2 kap. 2 §) Uppsala University is obliged to conduct systematic fire safety work. Through systematic fire safety, we work to prevent a fire from occurring. But if a fire should occur, we should have the right equipment to perform an extinguishing attempt, and if it fails, the spread of the fire should be limited so that we can evacuate securely and safely.

Risk management and emergency preparedness

A large part of the systematic fire safety work consists of doing a risk assessment. Are there any risks at the workplace for employees, students or visitors? Are there any other risks such as flammable items in or nearby the facilities? How are the identified risks handled? Are they preventable? If an accident, despite preventive measures, should occur - what routines do you have for dealing with a possible fire or evacuation? If there is uncertainty - discuss the question at your next workplace meeting and develop a procedure for dealing with it.

Education plan

The fire protection training consists of two parts - the theoretical one that you are reading right now, and the practical one. Every five years, all employees at the University are required to take the fire safety training. It's not enough just to do it; the training also needs to be planned and documented. That means that your manager needs to maintain a schedule for fire safety training for their staff. When you have completed your training, let your manager know so they can schedule the next training session.

Building and business description

The building description describes the building itself; the number of floors, the appearance of the joists, the floors below the ground, the meeting rooms, etc. The business description explains what activities are conducted in the premises; housing, health care, hotels, public premises, etc. These two descriptions are the basis for how the fire safety will be designed. The fire protection description shows how fire protection is arranged in the building. The description is a living document that is created during the design of the building (if it is relatively modern) and then lives with the building throughout its lifespan.

Inspection procedures

The university has a digital SBA system for carrying out fire safety inspections. The Security and Safety Department performs regular fire safety inspections four times a year. In addition to these regular checks, it's advisable for you the check the fire safety gear and other safety equipment at the department, on a regular basis. Things you can check include the following:

Fire extinguishers/fire blanket.
Fire alarm buttons (whole & with lid).
Fire doors (verify that they close properly and are intact)
Evacuation signs/referring luminaire (lights and visibility).
Evacuation plans (verify that they are in the right locations, and correct and up-to-date)
Evacuation doors/windows (works & not blocked).

Escape routes (not blockled, and that they are useable all the way out)

Guidelines

The University's fire safety guidelines describe how fire safety should be maintained. You may also add your own guidelines, as long as they don't contradict the University's central guidelines. In these guidelines, you can read about:

Fire rules
Organization
Evacuation
Salvage
Training

The guidelines are available at the University's staff gateway.

Follow up

The last part in the systematic fire safety work is the follow up. Did you focus on the right things and achieve what you wanted? Was there something that went wrong, and how can you learn from it? How can you move forward? Follow-ups are important so you know how to get an even better and more secure workplace.