Health & Safety Advice
It is a fact of life that people can suffer an injury or fall ill at work. It is also a fact that due to the Health and Safety (First Aid) Regulation 1981 you as an employer must provide adequate and appropriate equipment, facilities and personnel to enable first aid to be given to your employees should they suffer an injury or fall ill. It does not matter whether the injury or illness is caused by the work they do or not, the obligation to provide first aid still exists.
What is classed as adequate and appropriate depends on the circumstances within your workplace and therefore you should assess exactly what your first aid needs are. There are minimum requirements for any work place and these are as follows:
- a suitably stocked first aid box;
- a designated first aider
There are a variety of aspects to consider when assessing your firms first aid needs and many small organizations may well be okay with the minimum requirements, however, there are factors to consider that may result in additional requirements. A list of the factors that need to be considered are shown below:
- It is the law to carry out an assessment of the risks within your workplace;
- In certain circumstances specific risks can be identified and these include working with: Hazardous substances, Dangerous tools, Dangerous machinery, Dangerous loads and Animals.
- In some cases there may be different levels of risk throughout your working environment and these areas should be fully identified and the appropriate first aid equipment be present.
- An accident book should be kept and used to log all injuries and illnesses.
- It is important that the first aid supplies that you have available at your workplace are sufficient for the number of employees on site.
- You also need to ensure that you cater for all employees, are there any with special requirements, disabilities or health problems?
- What are the shift patterns of employees, does this involve working outside of normal office hours?
- Is the work place spread out, how easy and accessible are the first aid supplies from all areas within the work place?
- How close is your work place to emergency medical services?
- Do members of the public have access to your working environment?
These questions all need to be answered and it is only then that you can start to consider the impact of these responses on your first aid requirements. If you have identified the risks as significant then you may need to consider employing trained first aiders, as well as providing:
- Regular training for the designated first aiders;
- Stocking extra first aid supplies;
- Visible signage as to first aid stations
If your work force are spread over a number of floors, offices or locations you will need to consider the requirements for each of these areas and you will also need to monitor and control the contents of each individual first aid kit. There are many other issues that you need to consider and full advice can be sought from your local Health and Safety Executive.
So exactly what should your first aid kits contain? There is no exact list, because your exact requirements will depend on your risk assessment however as a guide, and where there is no special risk identified, a minimum stock of first aid items would be:
- First Aid leaflet
- 20 individually wrapped sterile adhesive dressings
- 2 Sterile eye pads
- 4 triangular bandages (preferably sterile)
- 6 safety pins
- 6 medium individually wrapped sterile unmedicated wound dressings
- 2 large individually wrapped sterile unmedicated wound dressings
- One pair of disposable gloves
The above is only a guide and you should not keep tablets or medicines in the first aid box. In addition to providing first aid equipment it is also necessary to appoint designated first aid personnel and their duties would include:
- taking charge should somebody falls ill or has an injury;
- ensure all first aid supplies are fully stocked;
- give first aid treatment for injuries and illnesses that they have been trained on.
The designated person must be available at all times and therefore you may need to appoint a number of first aiders, who can ensure that at any time there is a trained person on site.
The designated first aid personnel must undergo a training course in administering first aid at work and hold an first aid at work certificate. The training course has to have been approved by the Health and Safety Executive and a list of courses within your area can be obtained from the HSE.
There are no hard and fast rules as to how many first aiders you need, this will depend on the circumstances and work patterns of each organization, however the tables below show an indication as to recommended numbers (you should always assess your requirements and calculate your own numbers and equipment):
|
Category of Risk
|
No’s. employed at any one location
|
Suggested No’ of First Aid Personnel
|
|
Lower Risk e.g.
Shops, offices, libraries etc
|
Fewer than 50
50 – 100
More than 100
|
At least one appointed person
At least one first aider
One additional first aider for every 100 employees
|
|
Medium Risk e.g.
Light engineering, assembly work, food processing, warehousing
|
Fewer than 20
20 – 100
More than 100
|
At least one appointed person
At least one first aider for every 50 employed (or part thereof)
One additional first aider for every 100 employed
|
|
Higher Risk e.g.
Most construction, slaughter houses, chemical manufacture, extensive work with dangerous machinery or sharp instruments
|
Fewer than 5
5 – 50
More than 50
|
At least one appointed person
At least one first aider
One additional first aider for every 50 employed
|
It is important to note that the figures in the table are not definitive and it is for you to assess your own company’s first aid requirements in light of your own company’s circumstances.
Finally, once you have appointed your first aider/s you must inform the work force as to whom these people are. This can be done via notices, internal communications etc – and remember to make arrangements for any employee with reading or language difficulties.
