Choosing The Right First Aid Course

Emergency First Aid at Work v 3 Day First Aid at Work

Under the Health and Safety (First Aid) Regulations 1981 employers must provide adequate and appropriate equipment and facilities for the immediate attention of employees who become injured or ill at work. However, in addition to this, they must also ensure appropriate and adequately trained personnel are in place to handle situations where employees require immediate medical care.

What are your options?

So, you have your First Aid provisions in place. You know your policies and procedures. Now it’s time to get the right people trained up to do the job.

There are generally two options for First Aid training.

Emergency First Aid at Work (1 Day) is a course designed for lower risk work activities such as officebased roles. Alternatively, it can act as an additional support for your 3 Day qualified First Aider.

3 Day First Aid at Work

is a course designed for higher risk work activities such as engineering, construction, manufacturing and chemicals.

The course that is right for you will really come down to the results of your company’s First Aid Needs Assessment. Asking yourself questions like the examples below will help to identify what first aid provisions you should have in place.

1. What level of risk is our work? 140,000 people die

2. How many employees am I responsible for? 3. What are the shift patterns of my employees? 4. How many employees are on shift at any given time? 5. Are any of my employees lone working?

6. Where is the nearest hospital to where my employees are working? 7. What is my company’s history of accidents? 8.What is the nature of the work we are carrying out? each year in the UK from incidents where first aid

could of possibly saved their lives.

Who are your First Aiders?

These examples are just a few of what should be considered. It’s not just what course you need to think about but also who is best suited for the role of first aider? Choosing your first aider can be a task in itself. When doing so, you must consider if they are suitably competent to perform the task? Can they cope well under the stress and pressure of an emergency? Are they able to communicate well? How well can they retain and learn new information? Pick somebody who you trust, is reliable and most importantly can stay CALM.

A change to the previously mentioned First Aid Regulations in 2013 means that the HSE no longer approve first aid training and qualifications. They still police it though. There is an array of advice and guidance available on their website to help you ensure you are complying with the law and doing everything you can to keep your employees safe.