First Aid for Everyone Chart       First Aid for Workplace Chart 

As an Employer what do I need to do..? 

Legal First Aid Requirements for Employers - People at work can suffer injury or illness. It doesn't matter whether this is caused by their work or not - what is important is that employers have made arrangements to ensure their employees receive immediate attention if they are injured or taken ill at work. The initial management of injuries and illness, until expert medical attention is received, could make a difference between life and death.

In the event of sudden illness or injuries, failure to provide first aid could result in that person's death. The employer should therefore ensure that an employee who is injured or taken ill at work receives immediate attention. HSE will prosecute in cases where there is a significant risk, a disregard for established standards or persistent poor compliance with the law.

First Aid Training and The Law -The Health and Safety (First-Aid) Regulations 1981 require that in order to provide first aid to their employees who are injured or become ill at work, employers must have adequate and appropriate equipment, facilities and personnel. Regulation 3(2) states that: For this purpose a person shall not be suitable unless he has undergone such training and has such qualifications as the HSE may approve.

Your Legal Duties - The Health and Safety (First-Aid) Regulations 1981 require employers to provide adequate and appropriate equipment, facilities and personnel to enable first aid to be given to employees if they are injured or become ill at work. These Regulations apply to all workplaces including those with five or fewer employees and to the self-employed. Detailed information can be found in the Approved Code of Practice and Guidance: First aid at work. The Health and Safety (First-Aid) Regulations 1981 L74.

The Emergency First Response training courses conducted by Steve Martin are approved by the HSE.

What is adequate will depend on the circumstances in the workplace. This includes whether trained first aiders are needed, what should be included in a first aid box and if a first aid room is needed. Employers should carry out an assessment of first aid needs to determine this.

 

Assessment of first aid needs - Employers are required to carry out an assessment of first aid needs. In other words they need to identify the level of risk to their employees in carrying out their work duties and consider what first aid equipment, personnel and facilities they need to make available.

The following table offers guidance to minimum levels of First Aid cover but is no replacement for a thorough risk assessment. However, HSE do offer the following guidance:

Category of Risk	Numbers employed at any location  Suggested number of first-aid personnel
Lower Risk e.g. shops, offices, libraries	Fewer than 50 At least one appointed person 50 - 100 At least one first aider More than 100 One additional first aider for every 100 employed
Medium Risk e.g. light engineering and assembly work, food processing, warehousing	Fewer than 20 At least one appointed person 20 - 100 At least one first aider for every 50 employed More than 100 One additional first aider for every 100 employed
Higher Risk e.g. construction, slaughterhouses, chemical manufacture, extensive work with dangerous machinery or sharp instruments	Fewer than 5 At least one appointed person 5 - 50 At least one first aider More than 50 One additional first aider for every 50 employed

What Courses do I need then..? (see First Aid for Workplace Chart)

Our Primary and Secondary Care Course covers the Primary Care skills of scene safety assessment, universal precautions - communicable disease protection including barrier use, primary assessment, rescue breathing, cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR), conscious and unconscious obstructed airway management, serious bleeding management, shock management and spinal injury management. Secondary Care skills include injury assessment, illness assessment, bandaging and splinting for dislocations and fractures.

We also offer a Stand-alone CPR and AED Course - proven to drastically increase the chances of patient survival compared to CPR alone for the treatment of cardiac arrest.

As with all our courses, personal copies of materials (participant manual & DVD) are provided for participants to retain after the course.

See information about the HSE approved First Aid at Work Course and view the Workplace Requirements Chart from the HSE to give an idea of what cover you need...

Please (email me here) with questions or to group booking, still not sure I can visit the Workplace and give you a better idea of your requirements.