What do I need to do?

Most businesses need to provide some first aid provision. Whether this is a room with a couch or bed of sorts where someone can go and rest if they are taken ill, or simply someone who is in charge of checking and restocking the first aid kit, this will depend on the nature and size of your business.

Example 1:  you employ 5 lone workers who do remote site work during unsociable hours, and the nature of the work requires them to all be first aid trained and carry a first aid kit.

Example 2:  you work in a school where you have many visitors, pupils from the age of 4 and upwards, plus adults carrying out a variety of roles.  In this instance you will need to decide how many staff you need to train and to what level - you may need some who are trained in emergency first aid at work aimed at adults and others who have a full 12 hour paediatric first aid course.

In order to satisfy your health and safety requirements it is important for you to do a first aid needs assessment of your workplace.  A company can face penalties for not having appropriate facilities in place:

How can I find out more information?

It is not essential to write your findings down although this may be useful for your records in case you need to produce it at a later date to refer to.  There is nothing set in stone as to how many people you might need to train or what equipment you need to have as it really depends on a whole number of factors.

Carrying out a First Aid Needs Assessment

If you would like to discuss your needs assessment further or to carry out your own assessment why not visit our first aid needs calculator.

Carrying out Due Diligence

First aid is a very well populated market and there are many providers.  Cost is an issue that will often influence the decision of a company on who to select and this varies hugely from company to company.

If you want to take a more measured approach and think of some other factors and it is the responsibility of the employer to select the appropriate provider.  When doing your homework make sure you carry out your due diligence on anyone who trains you - this includes looking at things like:

• Monitoring and quality assurance
• Syllabus content
• Certification

You can find out more information on this topic by visiting the HSE website.  There is whole host of options out there so make sure you know which is the best fit for you and your business.