There are big changes to the first aid regulations which form part of the Health and Safety at Work Act 1974, and they will come into force on October 1 this year.
The law states that employers must provide suitable 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 even the self-employed.
In order to do this, employers must complete a first aid needs assessment which should cover the following:
• Nature of the work and hazards in the workplace
• Nature of the workforce
• Organisation’s history of accidents
• Needs of travelling and lone workers
• Distribution of the workforce
• Remoteness of the site from emergency medical services
• Shared or multi-occupational sites
• Annual leave of first aiders
• First aid provision for non-employees
The Health and Safety Executive (HSE) strongly advises that organisations which deal with large numbers of the public should make first aid provision for them.
This is beneficial to both the employer and the public, and avoids the dent in reputation and the financial implications of failing to deal with an injury to anyone on your premises.
The new law has created a new level of first aider (known as emergency first aid at work) which can be delivered over one day. The four-day course (known as first aid at work) has been reduced to three days.
The previous course of appointed persons, which was not regulated by the HSE, has been reduced to a half-day course.
When looking for a first aid training provider, make sure they are HSE approved and carry an approval number.
Unfortunately, there is still a loophole which allows non-HSE approved training providers to train as long as they get an approved company to certificate them.
This is not good practice, as it will still allow for substandard training. AMTD is HSE approved, and we employ only qualified nurses to deliver and assess our first aid courses. This ensures you receive training from experts in emergency management, not someone who has read it in a book but never seen the injury or illness in real life.
