How to Conduct a Fire Drill at Work: A 5-Step Guide

A workplace fire drill has five stages: plan the drill, notify relevant staff, run the evacuation, record the results, and review what went wrong. Under the Regulatory Reform (Fire Safety) Order 2005, UK employers are legally required to hold fire drills at least once per year, keep records of everyone, and ensure their fire risk assessment reflects the outcomes. This guide explains exactly how to do it correctly.

A poorly planned drill can instil false confidence, resulting in staff being unprepared to respond appropriately in an actual fire situation. The steps below are built around legal compliance and practical effectiveness, not just going through the motions.

Why Fire Drills Are a Legal Requirement

The Regulatory Reform (Fire Safety) Order 2005 places a duty on the ‘responsible person’, typically the employer or building manager, to ensure employees receive appropriate fire safety training. That training must include practice evacuation, not just written procedures.

Failure to conduct drills or to maintain records can result in enforcement notices, unlimited fines, or prosecution. If a fire occurs and there is no evidence of rehearsed procedures, legal exposure increases significantly.

How Often Should You Hold a Fire Drill?

Most workplaces should conduct at least one fire drill per year. Higher-risk premises such as care homes, schools, and venues with shift workers or high visitor footfall typically require two or more annually. The correct frequency should be determined by your fire risk assessment. If the building layout changes, staff numbers shift significantly, or a near-miss occurs, schedule a drill regardless of when the last one took place.

How to Conduct a Fire Drill at Work: The 5 Steps

Step 1: Plan the Drill in Advance

Before anything else, confirm the evacuation routes and assembly point for your building. If you have not reviewed these recently, cross-reference them against your current fire risk assessment. The five steps of a fire risk assessment should underpin your evacuation plan, so if one is overdue, it makes sense to address that first.

During your planning phase, decide:

• Which fire call point will be activated to start the drill?
• Which exits will be used? (consider testing a secondary route if the primary has been the only one used before)
• Are there any high-risk areas, server rooms, kitchens, or plant rooms that need specific procedures?
• Who will monitor each floor or zone during the evacuation?
• How will visitors and contractors on-site be accounted for?

A fire warden or marshal should be assigned to each floor or designated zone. They are responsible for confirming that all areas are clear and directing occupants to the nearest available exits during an evacuation. Confirm they understand their individual responsibilities before the drill date.

Plan for staff with disabilities or mobility impairments. If your building has a personal emergency evacuation plan (PEEP) for any individual, the drill should test whether that plan actually works in practice, not just in theory.

Step 2: Notify the Appropriate People

This is where many organisations go wrong. The drill only tests your actual procedures if most people do not know exactly when it will happen.

Inform in advance:

• Senior managers and directors (so they can plan around client calls or time-sensitive work)
• Fire wardens and marshals.
• Reception staff and security.
• Anyone with a PEEP who needs time to prepare.
• Contractors and facilities teams are managing the building.

Avoid announcing the exact drill time to all staff in advance. If everyone knows the drill will take place at 10:30 on Tuesday, they are likely to be prepared and waiting, which reduces the effectiveness of the exercise as a realistic test. 

Step 3: Run the Evacuation

Activate the fire alarm via the designated call point – from that moment, the evacuation should begin immediately.  This provides a benchmark against which to compare future drills and the targets set out in your emergency plan. 

During the evacuation:

• Fire wardens will sweep their zones and confirm they are clear.
• Staff should move directly to the assembly point, avoid detours, or retrieval of belongings.
• The nominated fire warden or manager takes a headcount at the assembly point, using a current staff list or visitor log.
• Anyone with a PEEP is assisted according to their plan.
• The person in charge confirms all are accounted for before the all-clear is given.

Note every failure in real time: propped fire doors, people using lifts, staff ignoring the alarm, and areas not swept. These are the findings that make the drill valuable.

If your building has emergency lighting, the drill is a good opportunity to confirm it activates correctly and lights the required routes adequately.

Step 4: Record the Drill

Record-keeping is not optional; it is a legal requirement. Your fire drill record should include:

• Date and time of the drill.
• Duration from alarm activation to full assembly.
• Number of staff, visitors, and contractors present.
• Names of fire wardens on duty.
• Which exit routes were used.
• Issues identified during the evacuation.
• Any staff who did not comply or were not accounted for.

Fire service inspectors can and do ask to see drill records during audits. If you cannot produce them, it is treated as a failure of compliance. Keep records for a minimum of three years, longer if your risk assessment recommends it.

Keep records in a formal fire safety log, not loose notes or emails. Treat the drill record with the same rigour as your fire risk assessment documentation.

Step 5: Debrief, Review, and Act

Hold a debrief within 24 hours while observations are fresh. Include fire wardens and any staff who witnessed specific issues.

The review should answer four questions:

• Did everyone evacuate within the target time?
• Were all areas fully swept and accounted for?
• Did any staff fail to respond or behave unsafely?
• Were there physical obstacles or system failures? (propped doors, poor alarm coverage, inadequate signage)

Every issue identified in the debrief should generate a specific action with a named owner and a deadline. If your fire evacuation plan needs updating based on what you found, do it before the next drill. Reviewing findings is only valuable if it leads to action. 

If the debrief reveals gaps in staff knowledge, schedule refresher training promptly. Our on-site fire training is premises-specific and delivered by qualified instructors, not a generic classroom session.

Common Fire Drill Mistakes

Not Accounting for Everyone

A headcount that misses a contractor on the third floor is not a completed drill; it is a gap. Ensure your visitor log and contractor sign-in feed directly into the fire warden’s accountability list.

Using the Same Route Every Time

Testing only your primary exit leaves your team with no rehearsed response if that route is blocked. Vary drills to test secondary exits.

No PEEP Testing

PEEP (Personal emergency evacuation plans) must be tested, not just written. Confirm that named colleagues who would assist a staff member are present, and that the refuge point works as expected.

Ignoring Fire Door Failures

A propped fire door during a drill is a finding, not a minor inconvenience. Fire doors contain smoke and heat while people evacuate. Log the failure and feed it into your fire risk assessment review.

No Follow-up on Identified Issues

Every finding needs an action, a named owner, and a deadline. The debrief’s value is in what changes afterwards, not just in what was observed.

Get Support from Northants Fire

If your last fire drill raised more questions than it answered, or your evacuation plan has not been tested in over a year, we can help. Northants Fire provides on-site fire training delivered by qualified instructors, providing bespoke training designed around your premises and building layout.

We also carry out fire risk assessments covering evacuation procedures, detection systems, fire warden responsibilities, and documentation. Whether you are in Northampton, Kettering, Wellingborough, or Milton Keynes, call us on 01604 207602 to arrange an assessment or discuss training for your team.

Frequently Asked Questions

Do all workplaces have to do fire drills?

Yes. The Regulatory Reform (Fire Safety) Order 2005 requires the responsible person to ensure employees are trained in emergency procedures, which includes practising evacuation. The frequency is determined by your fire risk assessment, but at least once a year is the standard minimum for most workplaces. For how often fire risk assessments should be reviewed, see our dedicated guide.

Can I warn staff before a fire drill?

You must inform fire wardens, managers, and anyone with a PEEP in advance. General staff should not know the exact time; if they do, the drill does not test actual emergency behaviour.

What if a fire drill reveals serious failings?

Address them immediately. If a finding suggests a structural or equipment issue, a call point that did not work, or an exit that was obstructed, fix it before the next drill. If it raises concerns about your overall fire safety in the workplace, consider commissioning a full fire risk assessment review.

What records do I need to keep after a fire drill?

Date, time, duration, number of people, routes used, issues identified, and the names of marshals on duty. These should be kept as part of your formal fire safety log for at least three years.