Short answer: The law doesn’t set an exact frequency, but government fire safety guidance recommends at least one fire drill a year. Higher-risk premises, buildings with lots of visitors and businesses with high staff turnover or shift work should hold them more often. Record every drill and what you learned from it.
What the law says
The Regulatory Reform (Fire Safety) Order 2005 requires the responsible person to have emergency procedures in place (article 15) and to train staff in them, repeating the training periodically (article 21). Fire drills are how you test that the procedures work and that staff know what to do.
The government’s fire safety risk assessment guides recommend holding a fire drill at least once a year. You should hold them more often if:
- your fire risk assessment identifies a higher risk
- you have several shifts (each shift should take part)
- staff turnover is high, or you use lots of temporary or agency workers
- a previous drill showed problems.
What you need to do
- Hold at least one fire drill a year, and more if your risk assessment says so.
- Make sure staff on every shift take part.
- Time the evacuation, and check everyone was accounted for at the assembly point.
- Record the date, time taken and any problems, and fix them.
- Update your fire risk assessment and emergency plan if the drill shows changes are needed.
How OHSS can help
Our fire warden course covers planning and running fire drills, and OHSS can observe your drill and give you a written report.
Fire warden training → | Ask us a question | Call 0151 374 0355
Sources
- Regulatory Reform (Fire Safety) Order 2005, article 15
- Regulatory Reform (Fire Safety) Order 2005, article 21
- GOV.UK – Fire safety in the workplace
This page covers fire safety law in England and Wales (the Regulatory Reform (Fire Safety) Order 2005). Scotland and Northern Ireland have their own fire safety laws with similar duties. It is general guidance, not legal advice. Last reviewed: October 2026.
