The cleaner is often the last person in the building
Most fire plans are written with a full office in mind. Staff know the alarm, they know the stairs and they know where to meet. A fire safety cleaning contractor plan has to cover a different picture. The people on site at seven in the evening may be a small cleaning team who started on the job last week.
That matters because a fire does not wait for opening hours. Cleaners are in the building when most people are not. They may be the first to smell smoke, the first to hear an alarm or the only people who need to get out. If they have not been told how your building works, the plan has a gap in it.
This guide is for the manager of an office, shop, warehouse or practice in Greater Manchester who uses an outside cleaning company. It covers what the cleaning team should be told, how to keep escape routes clear while they work, and what to agree before the first visit.
Who is responsible for fire safety
The GOV.UK guide to fire safety in the workplace says the responsible person for a non-domestic building is the employer, owner, landlord or occupier. It also includes anyone else with control of the premises, such as a facilities manager, building manager or managing agent. In shared premises there may be more than one responsible person, and they have to work together.
The guide sets out what that person must do. They must carry out a fire risk assessment of the premises and review it regularly. They must tell staff about the risks, put fire safety measures in place and keep them in working order. They must plan for an emergency, and they must provide staff with information, instruction and training.
A cleaning contractor does not take that duty over. Your fire risk assessment still covers the whole building at every hour. What the contractor can do is follow your plan and keep its own people safe within it. For that to work, you have to share the plan.
What the plan should already say
GOV.UK lists what an evacuation plan must show. It should cover a clear passageway to all escape routes and clearly marked routes that are as short and direct as possible. It needs enough exits and routes for everyone to leave, emergency doors that open easily and emergency lighting where it is needed. Staff need training to use the routes, and there should be a safe meeting point.
Look at that list from a cleaner’s point of view. Which door do they use at the end of a shift? Where is the meeting point after dark? Is the back stair lit, and is it free of stored boxes? A plan that works for your staff at nine in the morning may not be obvious to a stranger at nine at night.
Tell the cleaning team on day one
GOV.UK says new staff should be trained when they start work, and that all employees should be told about any new fire risks. The cleaning team are not your employees. The same sense still applies to them. A short walk round on the first visit does more good than a page of notes.
The walk round should cover a handful of points.
- The nearest exits from each area they clean, and the route to the final exit.
- Where the alarm call points are, and what the alarm sounds like.
- Where the meeting point is, and who they should report to if someone is there.
- How to call the fire service, and what address to give.
- Where the fire fighting equipment is, and a clear rule that they leave unless they have been trained to use it.
- Which doors are fire doors and must always be closed.
Write the points down and keep a copy with the cleaning specification. If the team changes, the new cleaner gets the same walk round. A line in the contractor’s induction record shows it was done.
Keep escape routes clear while the team works
GOV.UK says regular checks should confirm that all escape routes are clear and the floor is in good condition. It also says fire escapes should open easily and automatic fire doors should close correctly. Cleaning gets in the way of every one of those checks if nobody is paying attention.
The common problems are easy to picture.
- A trolley or machine parked in a corridor that is also an escape route.
- Bin bags stacked by a fire exit while the cleaner finishes the floor.
- A fire door wedged open with a bucket so the trolley can pass through.
- A cable run across a walkway to reach a socket.
- A fire exit door left blocked or propped open after the last bag goes out.
None of this is carelessness in the usual sense. It is a cleaner trying to work quickly with a heavy load. The fix is to say it clearly. Escape routes stay free, fire doors stay shut and exit doors are never blocked, even for a minute. If the job really needs a door held open, it is agreed with you first.
A wet floor adds another layer, because a slippery escape route is a poor one. Cleaning in sections, so that a dry path always remains, is a sensible habit. It matters most in large spaces such as a warehouse, where the nearest exit can be a long way off.
Waste, products and machines
Cleaning creates fire risks of its own, and the responsible person has to think about them. GOV.UK says the risk assessment should consider the removal or safe storage of dangerous substances. In a cleaning context that means three things.
The first is waste. Full bags and cardboard should not sit near an exit, a boiler or an electrical cupboard overnight. They should go to a bin store or collection point at the end of the visit. The second is products. Aerosols and strong chemicals should be stored in a labelled place, away from heat. The third is machines. Floor scrubbers and vacuums with rechargeable batteries need a sensible place to charge, away from escape routes and from stored paper.
It is fair to ask the contractor where they plan to charge equipment and where they plan to put the rubbish. These are quick questions, and a good answer shows the team has thought about the building.
Alarms, detectors and false alarms
Some cleaning work can set off a fire detector. Steam, fine dust and aerosol sprays are the usual causes. A disinfectant fog can do the same, because the fine mist looks like smoke to some detectors. A false alarm wastes time, can disturb neighbours and teaches people to ignore the sound.
The answer is to plan it rather than improvise. Before a fogging job or any task that creates steam or dust near detectors, agree the arrangement with whoever looks after your fire alarm. Nobody should cover a detector or switch off part of the system without their say so. Our fogging and disinfection service is the kind of work where this conversation happens before the visit, not during it.
Drills and the contractor
GOV.UK says you should carry out at least one fire drill a year and record the results as part of your fire safety and evacuation plan. Your cleaners are people in the building, so it makes sense to include them where you can.
That is hard when they work at different hours. One simple option is to hold the walk round on the first visit and repeat it once a year. Another is to ask the contractor to confirm that every cleaner on your site has been briefed, and to name the supervisor who has done it. Either way, a written note is better than a verbal assurance.
People who need extra help
GOV.UK says special arrangements should be made for people with mobility needs. It gives the example of making sure there are people to help wheelchair users get downstairs if there is a fire. If you have a cleaner with a mobility need, or a member of staff who works late, make sure the plan covers them by name. A general plan is not always enough.
What to agree with the contractor
A short list keeps things clear. It is easy to put into the contract or the cleaning specification.
- Every cleaner is shown the escape routes, call points and meeting point before their first shift.
- Escape routes stay free of equipment and rubbish at all times.
- Fire doors are never wedged open without your agreement.
- Waste goes to the bin store or collection point before the team leaves.
- Equipment is charged in an agreed place.
- Fogging, steam and dust jobs near detectors are agreed with the alarm manager first.
- The team knows who to call and what to say if there is a fire.
How we work
Our teams clean around your business hours, which often means early mornings, evenings, overnight or weekends. Every member of our office cleaning team is vetted, trained and insured. We start with a site assessment, and that visit is the right moment to go through your escape routes and agree the points above.
Getting started
If you are setting up a new contract or reviewing an old one, send us the details of the building and the hours you need. We will walk round with you, note the fire doors and exits, and write the agreed rules into the cleaning specification so the team knows them from the first night.