How often should fire drills be carried out at work?
By Ash Pearson, Managing Director, Computime · Updated October 2026
The short answer
UK law does not set a fixed number of fire drills. Government guidance says most workplaces will need one at least once a year, and often more frequently, such as every six months, with the right frequency set by your fire risk assessment. Busy sites, shift working, high staff turnover and premises where people sleep all point towards drilling more often. Whatever the frequency, you should keep a record of each drill and what it showed.
NoneFixed number of drills set by UK law. Your fire risk assessment decides.
1+ a yearWhat government guidance expects for most workplaces.
6 monthsThe interval the Home Office gives as an example of drilling more often.
What the law actually says
In England and Wales, workplace fire safety is governed by the Regulatory Reform (Fire Safety) Order 2005. It puts the duty on the “responsible person”, usually the employer or whoever controls the premises. Two parts of it matter here:
Procedures for serious and imminent danger (article 15): you must have evacuation procedures and enough competent people to carry them out.
Training (article 21): employees must get adequate fire safety training when they start, and again when the risks they face change.
The Order itself never says “hold a fire drill every X months”. The frequency comes from the official guidance published under the Order, and the Home Office is direct about it:
“There is no laid down frequency with which fire drills should be carried out.”
The same guide says drills are likely to be needed at least annually and often more often, giving every six months as an example. Scotland and Northern Ireland have their own legislation, the Fire (Scotland) Act 2005 and the Fire Safety Regulations (Northern Ireland) 2010, but the principle is the same: assess the risk, have a plan, make sure people know it, and test it.
Is once a year enough?
For a small, simple workplace with a stable team, it can be. The government’s guide for small non-domestic premises goes further and says a full evacuation drill is not considered essential every year for many small premises, as long as you go through the fire procedures with your staff periodically. It still describes an annual drill as a good way of testing whether those procedures work.
For most other workplaces, once a year is the floor rather than the target. Tick anything that applies to your site:
Quick check: do you need more than one drill a year?Nothing is sent anywhere. It just counts your ticks.
Nothing ticked: once a year is likely to be enough, as long as your fire risk assessment agrees.
Sharing a building? You will usually be expected to join drills organised by the landlord or managing agent. Those count, but check that your own staff are accounted for in them rather than assuming the building’s roll call covers you.
How to run a fire drill that tells you something
A drill is a test of your procedure, not a fire alarm test with walking. To get anything useful out of it:
1
Decide what you are testing
Evacuation time, a particular exit, a new marshal, the night shift, or how quickly the roll call is complete. One clear aim gives you one clear answer.
2
Brief the marshals, not necessarily everyone else
Your fire marshals need to know a drill is coming so they can observe. Whether the rest of the site knows is a judgement: announced drills are kinder for a first run, unannounced ones show you what really happens.
3
Sound the alarm from a call point
That tests the alarm as well as the evacuation, and tells you whether it can be heard everywhere, including toilets, plant rooms and outbuildings.
4
Time it
Note when the alarm sounded, when the building was clear and when the roll call was complete. Those three times are the figures you will compare next time.
5
Run the roll call properly
Account for staff, visitors and contractors against a live list of who was on site, not last week’s rota. The roll call takes place at your assembly point, and a drill is the best time to find out it takes too long.
6
Debrief straight away
Ask the marshals what went wrong while it is fresh, then write it down.
People who need help to get out. Anyone with a personal emergency evacuation plan should take part in a way that tests their plan, with the people who will help them. The government guide on means of escape for disabled people covers this in detail.
What to record after every fire drill
Government guidance says you should keep a suitable record of fire drills and staff training, in a logbook or electronically. A fire officer, insurer or auditor will ask for it, and it is the only way to show your drills are improving rather than repeating the same problems. A useful record covers everything on this sheet:
Fire drill recordCopy these headings into your fire log book
Date, time and shift
And whether the drill was announced or unannounced
Run by
Plus the call point or zone that raised the alarm
Time to clear the building
From the alarm sounding to the last person out
Time to complete the roll call
From the alarm to everyone accounted for
People on site
Staff, visitors and contractors, and whether all were accounted for
What went wrong
Alarms not heard, doors that stuck, people who went back for belongings or used the wrong exit
Actions
What will change, who owns each action and when it will be done
Keep the drill record alongside your fire risk assessment, which you must keep a written record of. When the risk assessment is reviewed, the drill records are the evidence of whether your procedures work in practice.
Where a digital roll call helps, and where it does not
The slowest part of most drills is not getting out. It is working out who is missing. A paper list printed at 9am does not know about the contractor who arrived at 10, the visitor in the meeting room or the two people who left early.
That is the problem our Fire Connect roll call app is built for. It takes the on-site list from your time and attendance system, so it reflects who has actually clocked in, and visitors signed in through Visitor Connect appear on the same list. Fire Connect runs alongside Syncro Connect for £395 a year excl. VAT.
Where it helps
✓The list reflects who has actually clocked in, not this morning’s printout
✓Visitors and contractors appear alongside your staff
✓Marshals mark people safe from any authorised device, and several can work the same list at once
✓Each roll call is recorded with its result, which gives you the drill record without writing it up afterwards
Where it does not
✕It cannot know about someone who never clocked in
✕Or someone who slipped out of a side door without clocking out
✕It needs a signal to save each “safe” mark, so keep a printed list as a fallback
✕The list is only as good as the clocking behind it
A drill is exactly where you find those gaps, before a real alarm does.
See how a digital fire roll call accounts for everyone
How often should fire drills be carried out at work?+
UK law does not set a fixed frequency. Government guidance says most workplaces will need a fire drill at least once a year, and often more frequently, such as every six months. Your fire risk assessment sets the right frequency for your site, and shift working, high staff turnover, members of the public on site or people sleeping on the premises all point towards drilling more often.
Is a fire drill a legal requirement in the UK?+
Not in so many words. The Regulatory Reform (Fire Safety) Order 2005 requires evacuation procedures, enough competent people to carry them out, and adequate fire safety training for staff. A drill is the accepted way of showing those procedures work, and official guidance expects most workplaces to hold one at least annually. For many small, simple premises, going through the fire procedures with staff periodically can be enough.
Does every shift need its own fire drill?+
Every shift needs to have taken part in a drill over the year. A drill held on the day shift shows nothing about whether the night shift knows the escape routes, who the marshals are or where the assembly point is. Rotating drills across shifts is the simplest way to cover everyone.
Should fire drills be announced or unannounced?+
Both have a place. An announced drill is better for a first run, a new building or a team with people who need assistance, because it tests the procedure without causing alarm. An unannounced drill shows you what really happens. Either way, brief your fire marshals beforehand so they can observe and time the evacuation.
What should be recorded after a fire drill?+
Record the date, time and shift, whether it was announced, who ran it and where the alarm was raised, how long the evacuation and the roll call took, how many people were on site including visitors and contractors, whether everyone was accounted for, what went wrong, and the actions agreed with an owner and a date for each. Government guidance says a suitable record of drills and training should be kept, in a logbook or electronically.
How long should a fire evacuation take?+
There is no single legal time. How long people can safely take to reach a place of safety depends on the building, its fire protection and the people in it, and your fire risk assessment is where that is worked out. What matters in a drill is measuring the time, comparing it with the last drill and finding out what slowed people down.
Do visitors and contractors need to be included in a fire drill?+
Yes. Anyone on site when the alarm sounds needs to leave and be accounted for, and visitors and contractors are the people most likely to be missed because they do not know the building and are often not on the staff list. A visitor sign in system that feeds the roll call closes that gap.
What if we share a building with other businesses?+
You will usually be expected to take part in drills organised by the landlord or managing agent, and those count. Make sure your own staff are accounted for at the assembly point rather than assuming the building’s roll call covers them, and agree with the other occupiers who checks what.
Who should run a fire drill?+
The responsible person, usually the employer, is accountable for it, but in practice drills are run by the people named in your fire procedures, often a fire safety lead with trained fire marshals or wardens. The marshals check their areas are clear, run the roll call and report back.
How long should fire drill records be kept?+
The law does not set a period. Keep them at least until your fire risk assessment has been reviewed, because they are the evidence that your procedures work, and many organisations keep several years so that trends in evacuation and roll call times show up.
Can a fire drill roll call be done on a phone?+
Yes. A roll call app such as Fire Connect gives marshals a live list of who is on site, drawn from clocking and visitor sign in, and records who has been marked safe. It does not replace a printed list, because it can only show people who clocked in and it needs a signal to save each mark. Keep paper as a fallback.
