Consultancy Focus: ‘First Aid Assessments’

 

 

 

 

 

 

“How many first aiders do I need?”, “Do my first aiders need the one day course or the three day course?” or “How many first aid kits do I need?” are questions we are often asked by employers. However there is not a definitive answer to this because it depends on the nature of your business and the risks involved.

The Health and Safety (First Aid) Regulations state that first aid provision must be ‘adequate and appropriate in the circumstances’

Therefore you, as the employer, have to determine what is adequate and appropriate for your business.

In order to decide what might be appropriate a first aid needs assessment should be carried out.

There are no hard and fast rules on exact numbers, and all the relevant circumstances of your particular workplace needs to be taken into account, such as;

• the nature of the work you do
• workplace hazards and risks (including specific hazards requiring special arrangements)
• the nature and size of your workforce
• the work patterns of your staff
• holiday and other absences of those who will be first-aiders and appointed persons
• your organisation’s history of accidents

as well as considering;

• the needs of travelling, remote and lone workers
• the distribution of your workforce
• the remoteness of any of your sites from emergency medical services
• whether your employees work on shared or multi-occupancy sites
• First aid provision for non-employees (e.g. members of the public)

However this can be burdensome and time consuming and leave you still wondering if you have ‘got it right’ and comply with the law.

As qualified and experienced health and safety professionals, we can remove a lot of that burden and make managing health and safety in your business ‘Hassle Free’, including carrying out the first aids needs assessment.

Whatever your health and safety needs, give us a call today 0117 958 2070 or e-mail us info@acornsafety.co.uk and make that additional hassle, ‘Hassle Free’