Fire safety is mandatory in a pure office business too: the employer must provide firefighting equipment, keep escape routes clear and signed, appoint a sufficient number of fire safety helpers and train employees. The basis is section 4 and Annexes 2.2 and 2.3 of the Workplace Ordinance, spelled out by the technical rules ASR A2.2 and A2.3.
How many fire extinguishers an office needs
ASR A2.2 distinguishes between normal and increased fire risk. Office and administrative areas normally fall under normal fire risk. The basic provision then follows from the floor area, calculated in extinguishing agent units. For the first 50 square metres, 6 units are provided; the figure rises as the area grows. How many units an extinguisher delivers is stated on its type plate; a common 6 kg powder extinguisher is often rated at 10 units.
More important in practice than the arithmetic are three points:
- Mount extinguishers clearly visible and near the escape routes, not in locked plant rooms.
- Apply signage under ASR A1.3 so that visitors can find the devices too.
- Arrange recurring inspection by a competent person, generally every two years, documented on the inspection label.
For electrical risks the inspection of work equipment is added. The intervals are in the test-interval calculator.
A worked example for an office building
An administrative business with 60 employees across three floors of 400 square metres each, normal fire risk, on average 45 people present at the same time. From that follows:
- Extinguishers: the basic provision is calculated from floor area in extinguishing agent units, considered separately for each storey. Beyond the number, what matters is distribution: an extinguisher should be reachable within a short distance from any point, sensibly along the escape routes and near stairwells.
- Fire safety helpers: 5 percent of 45 people present gives 2.25, rounded up to 3. In practice at least one trained person per floor is advisable, which here is also 3. Holidays and sickness have to be factored in, so a buffer is normal.
- Escape routes: from every workstation the route to the open air or a secured area must be within the maximum values of ASR A2.3, as a rule 35 metres.
The fire safety helper calculator gives you your own number, absence share included.
Fire safety helpers: 5 percent as a guide
Under ASR A2.2 the employer must appoint and train a sufficient number of fire safety helpers. As a guide the rule gives 5 percent of employees at normal fire risk. Presence is what counts: holidays, part-time work, field work and multiple floors can require a higher figure.
Training and refreshers for fire safety helpers
Training follows DGUV Information 205-023 and has two parts: a theory block on the principles of fire protection, the fire safety organisation of the business, behaviour in a fire and the dangers fires present, and a practical part with extinguishing exercises on a real fire. Half a day is usual.
The practical part is the one that counts. Anyone who has never discharged an extinguisher hesitates in an emergency at exactly the movements that matter: pull the pin, keep your distance, extinguish in bursts, aim at the seat of the fire and not at the flame. A refresher every few years is recommended, as is one after changes in the business, for example following a relocation or when new extinguisher types have been purchased.
Two organisational points are often missed: employees must know who the fire safety helpers are, otherwise nobody knows whom to call in an emergency. And the number must cover attendance, not the payroll list. If on a Friday in summer only two of the three helpers are in and one of them is on leave, the calculation no longer holds.
Escape routes and emergency exits
The most common shortcoming in offices is mundane: blocked corridors. Boxes, pedestals or plants in the escape route are a clear breach of Annex 2.3 of the Workplace Ordinance. Escape routes must be permanently clear, sufficiently wide, lit and signed, and emergency exits must be openable from the inside at any time without aids. For escape route length ASR A2.3 gives maximum values, as a rule 35 metres to an exit into the open air or into a secured area.
Whether an escape and rescue plan must be displayed depends on the location, size and use of the workplace, for example where routes are hard to follow or there is public access. ASR A2.3 provides for evacuation drills at appropriate intervals. Both belong in the assessment along with the alerting arrangements.
Electrical equipment as a cause of fire
In an office the most common technical cause of fire is not an open flame but electricity: overloaded power strips, damaged power supplies, strips plugged into one another, coffee machines and kettles without automatic shut-off. Fire safety therefore depends directly on the recurring inspection of portable electrical equipment under DGUV Regulation 3.
Three rules that make the biggest difference in daily office life:
- Never plug one power strip into another. This is the classic under the desk and a real overload risk.
- Operate appliances with a heating function only under supervision and disconnect them after hours.
- Take damaged cables and power supplies out of service immediately, do not tape them up.
The test-interval calculator works out which test intervals apply to your devices. Without these inspection records, an element directly connected to fire safety is missing at a walkthrough.
What gets noticed first at a walkthrough
Fire safety shortcomings in offices are rarely technically demanding. These six points account for most of them and can usually be fixed the same day:
- Blocked corridors and stairwells. Boxes after a move, pedestals, plants, discarded furniture.
- Obstructed or hidden extinguishers. An extinguisher behind a coat rack does not serve its purpose.
- Expired inspection label on the extinguisher.
- Emergency exit locked or openable only with a key. Emergency exits must be openable from the inside at any time without aids.
- Missing or illegible signage under ASR A1.3, especially after a refurbishment.
- An outdated escape and rescue plan still showing the floor plan from before the move.
These points belong in the regular walkthrough and in the office safety checklist, so that they do not first surface at an inspection.
Setting responsibilities clearly
Fire safety in offices rarely fails on knowledge and almost always on ownership. Record in writing who takes on which task, and file it with the risk assessment:
- Who commissions and monitors the recurring extinguisher inspection?
- Who checks monthly or quarterly that escape routes are clear?
- Who maintains the list of fire safety helpers and initiates refreshers?
- Who updates the escape and rescue plan after a refurbishment?
- Who plans and documents the evacuation drill?
In leased premises there is one more question: clarify what the landlord covers and what stays with you. Extinguishers and escape route signage often sit with the landlord; training your own employees and appointing fire safety helpers never do. This demarcation belongs on file, otherwise it surfaces at the first inspection.
The records that count
Fire safety is not measured at an inspection by good intentions but by documents. These should be within reach and belong in the same file as the rest of the occupational safety documentation:
- The part of the risk assessment that classifies the fire risk and derives the measures from it.
- Extinguisher inspection records with date and competent person.
- The list of fire safety helpers with training dates and attendance records.
- Training records with date, content and signatures.
- Documentation of the evacuation drill, including what was learned and what was changed as a result.
- Where required: the current escape and rescue plan reflecting the state after the last refurbishment.
Risk assessment and safety training
The starting point is always the risk assessment: it establishes which fire risk applies and which measures follow. The annual safety training builds on it, covering behaviour in a fire, alerting, the assembly point and how to operate the extinguishers. Both must be evidenced in writing, as must the first-aid organisation, which runs in parallel in an emergency.
Safety Club brings office and administrative businesses an occupational safety specialist on site plus digital, audit-proof documentation, so that extinguisher inspections, fire safety helpers and training sessions are not forgotten. Common questions are answered in the FAQ; we are happy to discuss your specific case in an initial conversation.
This article is general guidance and does not replace legal advice on your individual case. What governs is the current version of the ArbStättV, ASR A2.2 and ASR A2.3, together with the requirements of building law and how your employers' liability insurance association (Berufsgenossenschaft, BG) interprets them.
