As an employer it is your responsibility to make sure employees get immediate help if taken ill or injured at work.

The law applies to every workplace and to the self-employed.

You must have:

  • a suitably stocked first aid kit
  • an appointed person or people to take charge of first aid arrangements
  • information for all employees telling them about first aid arrangements

 

Assess your First Aid Needs

What ‘adequate and appropriate’ first aid arrangements are depends on the work you do and where you do it. You’re best placed to understand the nature of your work, so you should assess what your first aid needs are.

You must consider:

  • the type of the work you do
  • hazards and the likely risk of them causing harm
  • the size of your workforce
  • work patterns of your staff
  • holiday and other absences of those who will be first aiders and appointed persons
  • the history of accidents in your business

You might also consider:

  • the needs of travelling, remote and lone workers
  • how close your sites are to emergency medical services
  • whether your employees work on shared or multi-occupancy sites
  • first aid for non-employees including members of the public

 

You can use our First Aid calculator to help you work out your First Aid needs. This will give you a free initial indicator as to what skills you may require in your workplace. We would be happy to speak with you and discuss those needs.

 

Try filling in our First Aid requirements calculator by clicking on the link below.

https://www.qualsafeawards.org/calculator/fc28337c99c08587cabc35c3dad7c2b3 

 

 

Appoint Someone To Take Charge of First Aid

An appointed person is in charge of your first aid arrangements. This includes looking after the equipment, facilities and calling the emergency services.

You can have more than one appointed person and they don’t need to have any formal training.

An appointed person must always be available whenever people are at work.

 

 

First Aiders and Training

You might decide that you need someone trained in first aid, sometimes known as a first aider.

There are no hard and fast rules on how many trained first aiders you should have. It depends on the nature of your work and its location.

First aiders are trained by a competent training provider in:

  • emergency first aid at work (EFAW) – at this level they’re qualified to give emergency first aid to someone who is injured or becomes ill while at work
  • first aid at work (FAW) – qualified to EFAW level but can also apply first aid to a range of specific injuries and illnesses

 

First Aid Training

Use the findings of your first aid needs assessment to decide:

  • if you need someone trained in first aid
  • what’s an adequate and appropriate level of training
  • how many people you train

Keep training up to date with regular refresher courses.

Prestige Safety Services can offer a range of cost effective first aid training solutions to suit your needs. With instructors that have 15+ years’ experience treating real traumas in the front-line emergency services, you are guaranteed an informative, quality first aid course.

As a registered centre for Qualsafe awards we are able to offer accredited training courses.

 

First Aid Courses We Provide

  • Level 3 First Aid at Work
  • Level 3 Paediatric First Aid
  • Level 3 Emergency Paediatric First Aid
  • Level 3 Emergency First Aid at Work
  • Level 2 Basic Life Support and safe Use of an Automated External Defibrillator
  • First Aid at Work Refresher