Emergency First Aid at Work and First Aid at Work What's The Difference?

“The Health and Safety (First-Aid) Regulations 1981 require employers to provide adequate and appropriate equipment, facilities and personnel to ensure their employees receive immediate attention if they are injured or taken ill at work.” 

If you own a business then you know that by law you need to make sure you have adequate first aid procedures in place. The HSE can provide more information and a risk assessment checklists to determine the number of employees that would need training and risk factors.

A question that comes up a lot is ‘What’s the difference between first aid and emergency first aid?’  Below we explore both first aid courses and why your business needs first aid training in place:

Emergency First Aid at Work (EFAW)

This is a course that covers the important first aid skills you would need to rely on in an emergency situation. Its recommended for those who are responsible for providing first aid at work. 

An emergency first aider needs to be prepared to maintain life whilst waiting for more help to arrive. So this is a role that is treated with importance, this person needs to act in an appropriate manner under stress.

The course covers adult and child CPR, use of an automated external defibrillator and choking. There is also training on dealing with unconscious casualties as well as managing shock and minor injuries.

Small business owners and self employed individuals may also find it relevant depending on the type of work they undertake. This is normally the minimum requirement for workplaces to have in place and recommended for low level risk environments.

More details of Safety First course can be found on our website Safety First (https://safety-first-welling.org/courses/emergency-first-aid-at-work/)

First Aid at Work (FAW)

This is a more general position as a first aider needs to be able to identify illness and injuries They must also be able to administer life support and emergency treatment.

So the first aider will cover the course content of the emergency first aid at work but it is more in-depth. So they will be able to spot more serious scenarios and illnesses and be able to react accordingly.

So if this is a higher risk of injury environment then the first aider is training to apply first aid on specific injuries or illness.

All business need to make sure its staff are proficiently trained.  The HSE recommend that your staff attend an annual update in order to keep their skills and knowledge up to date.

We can provide emergency first aid training at work, so for more information on our courses please visit First Aid Courses (https://safety-first-welling.org/courses/). If you would like more information please don’t hesitate to get in touch and we will help find out what you need.