Fire Safety Assistant
Operates extinguishers, supports evacuation, and assists the assembly-point roll call. Trained and appointed for at least 5% of the workforce as required under the workplace fire-protection rules.
ASR A2.2 · DGUV Information 205-023 · § 10 ArbSchG
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What is a fire safety assistant?
The fire safety assistant (German: Brandschutzhelfer) is an employee appointed and trained to act in the early phase of a fire: to operate portable fire extinguishers on an incipient fire, to support the orderly evacuation of the building and to assist with the roll call at the assembly point. The role sits inside the employer's general duty to organise emergency response.
The legal anchor is § 10 ArbSchG (Arbeitsschutzgesetz). It obliges the employer to take the measures required for first aid, firefighting and evacuation and, in particular, to appoint employees who carry out these tasks. The practical detail comes from ASR A2.2 (Technische Regel für Arbeitsstätten "Maßnahmen gegen Brände"), which translates the abstract duty of § 4 ArbStättV into concrete rules for fire-extinguishing equipment and for the number of fire safety assistants.
ASR A2.2 sets the well-known benchmark: as a rule a share of 5 percent of the workforce should be trained as fire safety assistants. The percentage is a starting point, not a ceiling. Where there is an elevated fire hazard, many simultaneous shifts, large numbers of visitors or persons needing assistance, the employer raises the number based on the risk assessment under § 5 ArbSchG.
Content and scope of the training follow DGUV Information 205-023 ("Ausbildung zum Brandschutzhelfer"). It distinguishes a theory part (fundamentals of fire, fire classes, behaviour in case of fire, organisation) from a practical part with live extinguishing exercises. The fire safety assistant is not a fire-protection officer (Brandschutzbeauftragter) and does not replace one; the two roles have different qualification levels and responsibilities.
In day-to-day terms the role is preventive as much as reactive. The fire safety assistant knows the escape and rescue routes, the location of extinguishers and fire alarms and the assembly point, watches for blocked routes and defective equipment and reports them, and takes part in drills. The aim is that, in the first minute of a fire, trained people act calmly and correctly while the alarm chain runs and the fire brigade is called.
Core duties of the fire safety assistant
- Operate portable fire extinguishers and other provided extinguishing equipment on an incipient fire within the limits of self-protection
- Support the orderly evacuation of the building and guide colleagues and visitors to the escape routes
- Assist with the roll call and the headcount at the assembly point
- Know the locations of extinguishers, fire alarms, escape routes and emergency exits in their area
- Recognise and report defects in fire-protection equipment and blocked escape routes
- Take part in evacuation drills and refresher exercises and help debrief them
- Support the fire-protection officer or responsible person in everyday preventive fire protection
- Act within the alarm and emergency plan and pass information to arriving emergency services
- Keep their own training and live extinguishing practice current per DGUV Information 205-023
Appointment and qualification
There is no separate ordinance prescribing a formal written appointment for every fire safety assistant, but the employer's duty to appoint follows directly from § 10 ArbSchG together with ASR A2.2. In practice employers issue a written appointment so that the delegation of tasks, the scope and the assistant's authority are documented and verifiable for the authority and the accident insurer.
The number of assistants is derived from the risk assessment under § 5 ArbSchG. ASR A2.2 names 5 percent of the employees present as the normal share; this rises with the fire hazard, with the presence of many people or persons needing assistance and with a building geometry that makes evacuation harder.
Qualification follows DGUV Information 205-023. The training combines theory with a practical, live fire-extinguishing exercise; without the practical part the appointment is not properly founded. A refresher every three to five years is recommended, earlier where the risk assessment, building changes or new processes require it. Suitable candidates are physically able, present during operating hours and spread across areas and shifts so that cover exists at all times. Where the building is large or split across floors and shifts, the appointment plan should map assistants to areas and times so that the 5 percent share is not just a headcount on paper but real, present cover whenever people are at work.
- Result of the risk assessment under § 5 ArbSchG showing the need for organised firefighting and evacuation
- Employer duty under § 10 ArbSchG to appoint persons for firefighting and evacuation
- Reaching the 5 percent share of the workforce required as a rule by ASR A2.2
- Elevated fire hazard, many visitors or persons needing assistance
- Shift operation or large or complex buildings needing cover on every shift
Where fire safety assistants are needed
- Offices and administrative buildings with larger headcounts
- Manufacturing, metalworking and woodworking plants
- Warehouses, logistics and distribution centres
- Retail, shopping centres and venues with public traffic
- Hospitals, care homes and other facilities with persons needing assistance
- Hotels, restaurants and event locations
- Schools, universities and training centres
- Chemical, pharmaceutical and laboratory operations with elevated fire load
How CIVAC supports the fire safety assistant role
CIVAC keeps the fire-safety-assistant duty auditable in one place. The team view lists every appointed assistant, the area and shift they cover and whether the current head matches the 5 percent share that ASR A2.2 expects, so a gap is visible before an inspection finds it. Training records hold the theory and the live extinguishing exercise from DGUV Information 205-023, with the certificate stored and the refresher date tracked. CIVAC raises a task before a qualification lapses and routes it to the responsible person. Written appointments, the underlying risk assessment reference and drill records sit in the documentation pillar, so the link from § 10 ArbSchG through ASR A2.2 to the named person is one click away when the authority or the accident insurer asks.
Frequently asked questions
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