First Aid Requirements for Your Workplace

First aid law and the legalities around first aid at work can be confusing. Here we hope to help you understand what you need to do to ensure first aid practises in your workplace are compliant and in the best interests for your employees.

What is first aid at work?

According to the Health and Safety Executive, first aid at work can defined as:

People at work can suffer injuries or be taken ill. It doesn’t matter whether the injury or illness is caused by the work they do or not, it is important to give them immediate attention and call an ambulance in serious cases. You should make arrangements to ensure this happens. It can save lives and prevent minor injuries becoming major ones.

What first aid provisions should my workplace have?

The Health and Safety (First Aid) Regulations 1981 require you to provide adequate and appropriate first-aid equipment, facilities and people so your employees can be given immediate help if they are injured or taken ill at work.

What is ‘adequate and appropriate’ will depend on the circumstances in your workplace and you should assess what your first-aid needs are.
The minimum first-aid provision on any work site is:

• ˜a suitably stocked first aid kit
• ˜an appointed person to take charge of first-aid arrangements  ˜
• information for employees about first-aid arrangements.

It is important to remember that accidents and illness can happen at any time. Provision for first aid needs to be available at all times people are at work.

How do you assess first aid needs in a work place?

Some small workplaces with low-level hazards may need only the minimum provision for first aid. But there are circumstances and factors that will mean you need greater provision. You, as an employer, are well placed to decide the provision you need. You will also need to increase your provision to cover for absences. The Health and Safety Executive offers a guide from which you can assess your workplace first aid needs. Provision for first aid needs to be available at all times people are at work. Where there are special circumstances, such as shift work or sites with several buildings, there may need to be more first-aid personnel than calculated in the assessment.

How many appointed first aiders does your workplace need?

There are no hard and fast rules on exact numbers. It will depend on the circumstances of your workplace. If you complete the Health and Safety Executive assessment (link in previous question) you may feel confident in regards to the number of first aiders your place requires.  However, if you are in any doubt one of our team will be able to advise.

What first aid information do you need to provide employees with in your workplace?

According to the Health and Safety Executive you need to:

You have to inform your employees of the arrangements you have put in place for first aid. Putting up notices telling staff who and where the first-aiders or appointed persons are, and where the first-aid box is, will usually be enough. You will need to make special arrangements to give first-aid information to employees with reading or language difficulties.

How to select a first aid at work provider

The Health and Safety Executive recognises four main groups of provider:

• ˜˜those offering nationally recognised, regulated qualifications in First Aid at Work (FAW) and Emergency First Aid at Work (EFAW) - we fall into this category
• ˜˜the voluntary aid societies
• ˜those operating under voluntary accreditation schemes
• ˜˜those who operate independently.

As an employer, you will need assurance that you have selected an appropriate training provider. You will therefore need to check that they meet the standards in a
number of areas (due diligence). Where you select a training provider offering regulated qualifications, such as the North East Ambulance Service you will not need to do any due diligence, the regulators do this for you. 

However if you go with a non-regulated training provider they should be prepared, for your due diligence, to demonstrate that they:

• ˜˜are competent to deliver first-aid training
• ˜˜have qualified trainers
• ˜˜teach relevant course content in the correct way
• ˜˜have the necessary quality assurance systems in place.

You will notice fluctuations in the price that the different suppliers charge. Regulated suppliers usually cost a little more as they are checked and monitored by nationally accredited bodies and therefore have to pay for this service/ licence.  If you choose a regulated supplier like the North East Ambulance Service you have the peace of mind that we are up-to-date, compliant, professional and we are regularly monitored to ensure best practise.