Remember- the guidance for first aid has changed

Health & Safety Update (October 2009)

Remember- the guidance for first aid has changed

The Health and Safety (First Aid) Regulations 1981 require employers to ensure there are adequate and appropriate first aid facilities for their employees in the event of an injury or illness at work. This includes suitably trained personnel to respond in a first aid emergency and suitable equipment. The detailed requirements for each workplace are to be determined by an assessment of first aid needs conducted by the employer.

An HSE review of the 1981 Regulations which took place in 2005 found there was an identified need to update the first aid training requirements.

The new training regime for first aiders in the workplace was implemented on 1 October 2009.

Key points

new training course rules were implemented 1 October 2009;
there are now two courses- a six-hour (minimum) emergency first aid at work (EFAW) or an 18-hour (minimum) first aid at work (FAW) course. After three years, first aiders will need to complete another course (either a six-hour EFAW or 12-hour FAW re-qualification course, as appropriate) to obtain a new certificate;
existing qualified first-aiders only have to take part in the new training regime once their current HSE certificate expires;
annual refresher training is not mandatory, although it is strongly recommended;
EFAW and FAW cannot be combined and should be treated as separate courses;
the new 18-hour FAW course can be run over a period no longer than ten weeks;
the EFAW training does not take over from the role of the appointed person, which will remain, and there will be no regulatory requirement for such personnel to undertake first aid training. Organisations will not need HSE approval to offer appointed persons basic first aid training;
organisations already running an approved HSE course will get authorisation to run the new FAW and EFAW courses.

The message to businesses is simple - carry out a risk assessment based on actual needs, which covers things like the common injuries that happen in your workplace, then arrange the training. It has never been easier to comply and protect both your workforce and your finances. The aim of the change is to save businesses time and money without compromising health and safety. The new guidelines were produced on the back of extensive consultation with and feedback from employers across the UK, who recognised the need for first-aid training but often found it difficult to release employees for the necessary four days.
Savings in the first year of the new regime are estimated by the HSE to be £52 million.
The new guidance strongly suggests that refresher training taken annually would be beneficial to first-aiders and their employers, with staff feeling better placed to deal with an incident in their workplace.