First aid requirements

Employers are legally obliged to provide first aid facilities in the workplace (Health and Safety (First Aid) Regulations 1981). A failure to do so will potentially put you on the wrong side of the law.

Managing the risks

To help you, use our example Risk Assessment - First Aid Requirements document. It covers the generic hazards associated with first aid requirements and suggests control measures to reduce risks to an acceptable level. You should ensure that your document only addresses “significant” hazards, i.e. any that could and more importantly are likely to, lead to an injured person suffering through lack of proper first aid treatment.

Appointments

Your first aid assessment may indicate that you do not require a qualified first aider, but as a minimum, you should appoint someone to take charge (and summon professional help) if someone is injured or falls ill, and to look after your first aid equipment. This individual is known as an “appointed person”. However, the assessment may indicate that trained first aiders are needed and the number you require will depend upon your assessment and the number of employees.

Note. For your risk assessment to be considered suitable and sufficient in the eyes of the law it must accurately reflect the “significant” hazards found in your workplace.

Further information

We also recommend that you take a look at the leaflet issued by the HSE “First Aid at Work - Your questions answered”, leaflet ref: INDG214, which will help you to assess your first aid provision and explain the difference between appointed persons and trained first aid personnel. You can download a free copy of the document from: http://www.hse.gov.uk/pubns/indg214.pdf.