Common mistakes during a workplace fire

A workplace fire is always a critical situation in which every second counts. Although technical equipment plays an essential role, experience shows that it is very often human and organisational errors that worsen the consequences of a fire. Hesitation, inadequate training, poorly understood instructions or poor internal coordination can turn a manageable fire into an incident with serious consequences for people and the organisation.

For safety and HR managers in Switzerland, identifying these common mistakes is a key step towards better anticipating them. Understanding what really happens during a fire makes it possible to implement effective fire prevention that is adapted to legal requirements and real-world conditions.

• Human behaviour plays a decisive role during a workplace fire
• Panic, improvisation and a lack of preparation significantly increase risks
• The absence or inadequacy of fire safety training exposes employees to dangerous decisions
• Poorly managed fire evacuation can put lives at risk, even when compliant equipment is available
• Evacuation drills are essential for testing and improving procedures
• Fire safety equipment that is used incorrectly or poorly identified loses all its effectiveness
• Poor coordination between HR, safety and management creates confusion in an emergency
• Structured, practical and regular fire prevention helps reduce errors over the long term and protect people

Understanding why human errors make a workplace fire worse

The role of human behaviour in an emergency

During a workplace fire, damage is not caused solely by flames or smoke. Human reactions play a decisive role in either worsening or controlling the situation. Under the effects of stress, fear or surprise, employees may adopt inappropriate behaviours, even in fully equipped premises.

Without reflexes developed through training, many people hesitate, seek confirmation before acting or copy the reactions of others without thinking. This loss of clarity can delay fire evacuation, increase exposure to toxic smoke and complicate the work of emergency responders.

Why panic and improvisation increase risks

Collective panic is one of the main causes of mistakes during a fire. It leads to improvised decisions such as using a lift, taking an unsafe exit or attempting to put out a fire without understanding the risks. These behaviours directly expose people to serious hazards, including burns, toxic exposure and falls.

Improvisation is often the result of insufficient preparation. Without clear instructions, regular practice and defined roles, everyone acts on instinct. Yet in an emergency, instinct is rarely reliable. A structured emergency organisation, on the other hand, reduces uncertainty and guides actions.

Responsibilities of employers and safety managers in Switzerland

In Switzerland, employers have a legal responsibility for protecting employees’ health and safety. This includes implementing fire prevention measures, as well as informing, instructing and training staff.

Safety and HR managers play a key role in anticipating human errors. They must ensure that procedures are understood, accessible and adapted to real-world conditions. Technical compliance alone is not enough. Without human preparation, safety systems lose much of their effectiveness.

Neglecting employees’ fire safety training

Assuming employees will know how to react spontaneously

A common mistake in workplace fire safety is believing that common sense is enough in an emergency. In reality, when faced with a fire starting, stress significantly impairs decision-making. Without prior training, employees hesitate, wait for instructions or take ill-advised initiatives.

Reacting effectively to a fire cannot be improvised. The right reflexes must be acquired in advance, practised and internalised. Without this preparation, even experienced people may adopt dangerous behaviours, such as delaying evacuation or attempting to extinguish a fire with unsuitable equipment.

Limiting training to basic theoretical information

Distributing written instructions or displaying an evacuation plan does not constitute sufficient training. Purely theoretical information is often poorly retained and quickly forgotten. In a real situation, few employees remember the procedures they read several months earlier in precise detail.

Effective fire safety training must clearly explain the risks, expected behaviours and mistakes to avoid, while relating these elements to real situations encountered in the organisation. Without this context, instructions remain abstract and difficult to apply.

Lack of practical training in extinguisher use

One of the most common shortcomings concerns the use of fire extinguishers. Many employees know that extinguishers are available but do not know when or how to use them. This lack of knowledge leads either to non-use for fear of doing something wrong or to dangerous use on an unsuitable type of fire.

Practical fire extinguisher training helps employees understand the limits of intervention, identify different classes of fire—solid materials, liquids and electrical equipment—and know when to prioritise fire evacuation over firefighting. This approach significantly reduces errors and protects both people and the organisation.

Poorly managing evacuation during a fire

Failing to activate the alarm or hesitating for too long

Hesitation is one of the most critical mistakes during a workplace fire. Out of fear of triggering a false alarm or disrupting operations, some employees delay activating the fire alarm. This delay allows the fire and, above all, toxic smoke to spread, drastically reducing the time available to evacuate safely.

Activating the alarm quickly is a priority reflex. An early warning enables a smoother evacuation, limits panic and facilitates the work of emergency responders. When in doubt, it is always better to raise the alarm than to wait for confirmation.

Trying to finish a task before evacuating

Many people try to finish a call, save a file or secure equipment before leaving the premises. This behaviour, which is common in the workplace, is extremely dangerous. Every second lost increases exposure to the risks associated with heat and smoke.

During a fire incident, the absolute priority is protecting people, never maintaining business operations. Immediate evacuation saves lives and prevents blockages in corridors or stairways.

Going back to retrieve personal belongings

Returning to your workstation to take a bag, phone or documents is a classic mistake. This behaviour directly exposes people to areas that are already filled with smoke or can become dangerous within moments.

Fire safety instructions must be clear on this point. No object is worth risking your life for. Successful evacuation depends on simple messages and their repetition during training and drills.

Poor knowledge of emergency exits and assembly points

Not knowing the location of emergency exits or the assembly point makes evacuation much more difficult. Some employees follow the crowd without knowing where to go, while others disperse outside, making it impossible to account for everyone.

Effective fire evacuation requires everyone to know which routes to take and where to assemble. This knowledge cannot be improvised on the day of an incident. It must be developed through regular reminders, clear signage and drills adapted to the actual layout of the premises.

Underestimating the importance of evacuation drills

Never testing procedures in real-life conditions

Many organisations have perfectly drafted fire evacuation procedures that are never put into practice. This lack of testing creates a false sense of security. When a real fire occurs, employees are confronted with the instructions in an emergency, without any practical reference points.

An evacuation drill makes it possible to compare theory with real-world conditions. It often reveals problems that are invisible on paper, such as obstructed routes, locked doors or evacuation times that are longer than expected.

Drills that are too infrequent or poorly organised

Holding a drill every three or four years is not enough to establish the right reflexes. Teams change, premises evolve and habits are quickly lost. Drills held too far apart significantly limit their effectiveness.

A poorly prepared drill, without prior explanation or supervision, can also create confusion or misunderstanding. To be useful, a drill must be structured, adapted to the organisation and consistent with the actual risks identified.

Failing to review lessons learned after drills

One of the most common mistakes is drawing no lessons from completed drills. Without analysing observed behaviours, evacuation times or difficulties encountered, the same mistakes will be repeated.

A lessons-learned review makes it possible to continuously improve internal organisation. It helps safety and HR managers adjust instructions, reinforce certain messages and correct weaknesses before a real fire occurs.

Having compliant equipment that is used incorrectly

Inaccessible or poorly identified fire extinguishers

In many organisations, fire extinguishers are present but poorly positioned, partly hidden or difficult to access. During a fire, these obstacles waste precious time and discourage any attempt at rapid intervention.

A fire extinguisher must be visible, accessible and clearly signposted. If it is placed behind a door, obstructed by furniture or poorly identified, it becomes useless in an emergency. This mistake is particularly critical because the first few seconds may be enough to control a small fire.

Fire safety signage that is difficult to see or understand

Fire safety signage is often taken for granted. Yet poorly positioned, inconspicuous or misunderstood pictograms create confusion during an evacuation. Under stress, an employee will not take the time to interpret ambiguous information.

Effective signage must be simple, consistent and immediately legible, even in low-visibility conditions. It should naturally guide people towards emergency exits without requiring additional thought.

Outdated or ignored evacuation plans

Out-of-date evacuation plans represent a major risk. Construction work, layout changes or new teams can make these documents obsolete without anyone realising it.

Even when they are up to date, plans are sometimes ignored by employees because of a lack of explanations or regular reminders. An evacuation plan is only useful if it is known, understood and incorporated into the organisation’s habits, particularly through regular training and drills.

Lack of internal coordination in the event of a fire

Poorly defined roles and responsibilities

During a workplace fire, the absence of a clear allocation of roles quickly creates disorder. No one knows who should activate the alarm, guide the evacuation, check the premises or communicate with emergency responders. This uncertainty slows decision-making and increases the risk of critical errors.

Every organisation must define an emergency organisation in advance, with precise responsibilities that are known to everyone. Without this clarity, even well-intentioned employees may act in contradictory or ineffective ways.

Ineffective communication between HR, safety and management

Another common mistake concerns poor coordination between the different departments. HR, safety and management do not always share the same information or priorities in an emergency. This can result in instructions that are unclear, incomplete or poorly communicated to teams.

Clear, planned communication is essential to prevent misunderstandings. Messages must be simple, consistent and aligned among all those involved, so that everyone knows what to do without waiting for further approval.

Contradictory decisions during an emergency

In the absence of shared procedures, some decisions made in an emergency may contradict one another. For example, asking some employees to evacuate while others are told to remain in place, or attempting to maintain partial operations despite a known risk.

These inconsistencies create confusion and intensify panic. Effective fire prevention relies on decisions made in advance, approved beforehand and immediately applicable. In a crisis, there should be no debate—only clear, coordinated actions.

Read the article: Legal requirements for fire safety in Switzerland in 2026: what organisations must comply with

How to avoid these mistakes through effective fire prevention

Establishing a clear, tested organisation

Avoiding mistakes during a fire starts above all with a structured emergency organisation. Roles must be clearly defined, formalised and known to everyone. Who activates the alarm, who coordinates the evacuation, who checks sensitive areas, who communicates with emergency responders? These questions must have precise answers before any incident occurs.

This organisation must not remain theoretical. It must be tested regularly through realistic drills adapted to the layout of the premises and the number of people present. Testing helps identify weaknesses and adjust procedures before a real fire exposes these shortcomings.

Providing employees with regular, practical training

Workplace fire safety training is one of the most effective ways to reduce human errors. It must be regular, adapted to the specific risks of the activity and practice-oriented. Providing training only once when employees join the organisation is not enough.

Employees must know how to recognise a fire starting, understand the limits of their intervention, use a fire extinguisher safely and adopt the right fire evacuation reflexes. Repeating key messages and actions turns instructions into automatic responses, even under stress.

Integrating fire safety into the corporate culture

Effective prevention relies not only on equipment or documents. It is part of a corporate culture in which safety is seen as a shared responsibility. When employees understand the human and organisational issues at stake, they are more likely to follow instructions.

Integrating fire safety into daily operations means regularly reminding people of best practices, recognising responsible behaviour and involving safety and HR managers in an ongoing process. This approach sustainably reduces errors and strengthens protection for both people and the organisation.