The Health and Safety (First-Aid) Regulations 1981 require employers to provide adequate and appropriate equipment, facilities and personnel to ensure their employees receive immediate attention if they are injured or taken ill at work. These regulations apply to all workplaces including those with less than five employees and to the self-employed.
Having qualified first aiders within the work palce is often not only a HSE legal requirement but it adds to the welfare of only customers and staff. Knowing you have competent first aid trained staff who feel confident in admitting first aid is reassuring and demonstsates a high level of duty of care.
A first aider is someone who has undertaken the necessary training and holds a valid qualification as a certificate of competence
Choosing which first aid course
HSE states “An employer will need to make an assessment of their first-aid needs to establish what they should provide ” This will depend on your workplace, taking into account, among other things, the number of employees, size, location and work activity. For further information contact me direct and I can advise and view -L74 – HSE-first aid guidance of the regulations, page 33 gives a really good summary.
An employer can then decide what training is appropriate to their needs, typically this may be First Aid at Work ( FAW ) 3 days or Emergency First Aid at Work or ( EFAW ) 6 hours. If your organisation is providing any kind of outdoor activity provision, then one of the Outdoor First Aid courses would be more appropriate. However, many employers do ask for a nominated member of staff to hold FAW alongside and outdoor first aid qualification.
The First Aid at Work (FAW) course is designed for workplaces that would be classed as higher risk category (engineering, manufacturing, warehousing, construction, chemicals) and workplaces with a variety of underlying health conditions (heart problems, diabetes anaphylaxis, high blood pressure, etc)
Emergency First Aid at Work (EFAW) is designed for low-risk workplaces. It can also be used for staff required to be emergency first aiders or to support a designated first aider trained via the First Aid at Work course
An appointed person has the duty to
If you decide that you only need an appointed person and are not going to train staff in first aid, then I can provide on site training for anyone you wish to carry out this role.
- Take charge when somebody becomes ill or is injured whilst working. This includes calling an ambulance if one is needed.
- Looking after the First-Aid Boxes and supplies and any other first aid equipment, including restocking the first aid boxes.
- Keep and store the records of all treatment given on site.
- However, they cannot administer first unless they have completed a first aid course.
It’s not a legal requirement to have formal training, however by ensuring this person has been trained by an expert means you can ensure your company is complaint to a high level. This on site training would take 2 hours and cost £75,00 and I would provide a certificate of competence.
Due diligence by employers
It is the employer’s duty to ensure that any training provider that they select for the purposes of first-aid training is competent to deliver that training. REC fufills all the requirements and is one the leading first aid providers within the UK
Locations
I bring all my first aid courses to your workplace or any location you wish to run the course from within England and Wales. This saves companies and organisations, time, expenditure and means the course is more accessible to all. Please visit the range of courses I provide and get in touch if you wish to discuss any of these options.
C19
All courses will be run following current guidance. No person attending is required to carry out practicals on another person ( we can use dummies and manakins ) and everyone will have their own manakin to use and thier own first aid kits to use ( all supplied ) Social distancing can be maintained. For further information regards C19 and the running of my first aid course please get in touch as all organisation will have different requirements, regulations and Risk Assessment to follow. In many instances courses can either be run outside or for organisations such as schools etc courses can be run indoors as staff are often all ready working in bubbles.
