Who is in the wrong?

[MyPerfectHotel]

Fire alarm goes off in a small building at work.

Everyone makes their way to the fire exit, along the way they find the source, a pan of water had burnt dry. This was taken off the heat and cooker turned off.

All staff noted what had happened.

Half of the staff returned to their desks.

Other half of staff continued to the fire assembly area outside anyway.

One of the groups of staff were reprimanded for their decision. Which do you think and why were they being unreasonable?

And what if that wasn't actually the source? What if, coincidentally, there was a fire elsewhere in the building?

Yes, I thought that's what it would be, even though it's wrong - it reminds me of the time a light fitting crashed onto someone's desk at my last employer, and the manager's first concern was whether the light fitting was damaged

Clearly they need better fire training, or even a little common sense, but don't expect them to accept any with an attitude like that

This ☝️

I know some folk say H&S has gone mad but it's there for a reason and it's to keep people safe.

Absolutely report to the HSE, that is not on.

If you wanted to take it further, I would tell your local fire and rescue service before trying the HSE for 2 reasons:

a. The fire and rescue service are the UK enforcers for fire safety and
b. The HSE are so low staffed, that I would worry they would not come out.

The people running the place apparently do not understand how even the most basic health and safety measures are supposed to work, then. Dickheads.

What about when a fire alarm is actually just a drill? If people know (or think they know) it's only a drill, would your employer advise them to ignore it and stay put?

I agree that it would be worth contacting your fire and rescue service and/or the HSE about this.

The staff that went back to their desks were reprimanded. Fools!

The ones who returned to their desks should be reprimanded,as the fire officer outside would not know they had found the source.

MyPerfectHotel

"You are correct, apparently we "wasted company time when it was clear the source had been eradicated!"
and we should use common sense"

Wow, totally crap. Not safe at all.

They’d also be missing if there was a head count and could put themselves and the fire services at risk if there coincidentally happened to be another fire.