The Health and Safety (First Aid) Regulations 1981 require employers to provide suitable first-aid equipment, facilities, and personnel to ensure immediate assistance for injured or ill employees. Employers must conduct a first-aid needs assessment to determine the required level of provision, considering the nature of the work, number of employees, and workplace environment.
The findings of your employer’s first-aid needs assessment will help them decide how many first-aiders are required, what level of training staff need and how often. (Use our First Aid Requirements Calculator)
First Aid is something we should all know! Employers have a legal requirement to provide adequate First Aid provisions within the work place. For us as an individual, it not only looks great on your C.V. when approaching potential employers, but also is something we carry with us where ever we are and whatever we do… An emergency can happen at any time, anywhere and to any one of us!! Are you prepared?
The first aid training course you need depends on the activities carried out in your workplace and the number of employees that you have (Low or High risk). This will help you determine what level of training is needed and how many staff will need to be trained.
There are two levels of first aider in the work place
This 3 Day First Aid at Work (FAW) Qualification meets the guidlines of the Health & Safety Executive (HSE) and is designed to comply with all the legal requirements of the Health and Safety (First Aid) Regulations 1981. It satisfies the first aid requirements regarding having a fully qualified first aider in the workplace.Students are required to pass an exam, which is conducted by independent assessors. The Qualification is valid for three years, but annual refresher training is advised to avoid skills fade, loss of confidence and keep up to date with current guidelines
Blended Learning combines traditional face-to-face training/assessment with remote training or e-Learning. With part of the course delivered online – usually the theory – and practical elements of the qualifications then being covered in the classroom.
For example, a First Aid at Work course can be split into two sections, with 1/3 delivered
online:
• Day one: covering theory outside of the classroom – either via e-Learning or remote
training through video conferencing
• Day two & three: classroom-based delivery focussing on practical skills
Nurseries, crèches, child-minders and similar which come under the remit of OFSTED Early Years are usually required to have some staff trained on the two day First Aid For Child carers course. This is sometimes referred to as a Paediatric First Aid course.
Yes!! We offer a 2 Day Paediatric First Aid course This course is for Early Years and EYFS Foundation stage staff and complies with the OFSTED requirements for first aid training in Early Years settings, this could include a nursery, school, child minder, crèche, after school club etc. The course can help you comply with an OFSTED inspection.
There is no mandatory list for first-aid boxes, and the HSE does not endorse specific products. Contents should be based on your employer’s first-aid needs assessment. Generally, a UK standard first aid kit includes bandages, plasters, sterile wipes, and gloves. For detailed guidance, refer to our First Aid Kit Checklist on our website.
Although there is no specified review timetable, many items, particularly sterile ones, are marked with expiry dates.
They should be replaced by the dates given and expired items disposed of safely. In cases where sterile items have no dates, it would be advisable to check with the manufacturers to find out how long they can be kept.
For non-sterile items without dates, it is a matter of judgement, based on whether they are fit for purpose.
All used items should be disposed of responsibly in yellow CLINICAL WASTE bags.
First aid at work does not include giving tablets or medicines to treat illness.
The only exception to this is where Aspirin is used when giving first aid to a casualty with a suspected heart attack in accordance with currently accepted first-aid practice casualty should be asked if they are allergic to Aspirin.
It is recommended that tablets and medicines should not be kept in the first-aid box.
Some workers carry their own medication that has been prescribed by their doctor (Inhaler for Asthma). If an individual needs to take their own prescribed medication, the first-aider’s role is generally limited to helping them to do so and contacting the emergency services as appropriate.
Medicines legislation restricts the administration of injectable medicines. Unless self-administered, they may only be administered by or in accordance with the instructions of a doctor (eg by a nurse). However, in the case of an Automatic Adrenalin Injector (AAI) (Epipen) there is an exemption to this restriction, which means in an emergency a layperson (First Aider) is permitted to administer it by injection for the purpose of saving life.