What is a Needs assessment?

The aim of first aid is to reduce the effects of injury or illness at work.
Employers are duty-bound to make an assessment of first-aid needs, appropriate to the circumstances of each workplace.

This may include:
Nature of the work being undertaken, including hazards (power tools/ hazardous chemicals)
Nature of the workforce (male/female/young/old/disabled etc.)
Organizational history of accidents
Size of the organization
The needs of travelling, remote and lone workers
Work patterns (Shift work)
Distribution of the workforce
The remoteness of site/s from emergency medical services (e.g windfarm sites)
Employees working on shared sites (NB. employer are required by law to have their own first aiders)
Annual leave and other absences
Possible non-employee first aid (Theatres/sports events/ shopping malls)

First Aid reviews

Employers need to periodically review their first aid needs, particularly after any operational changes to ensure adequate provision remains appropriate. It is recommended that a record of accidents/ incidents is kept which have been treated by first-aiders and that a transparent policy regarding reporting is followed.

Incident/ Accident recording

An incident book is recommended to be kept to record incidents, which can be helpful to reference first aid carried out. It may also be helpful in insurance or investigative purposes, however, care must be taken to ensure that any incidents are kept in accordance with the General Data Protection Register 2018, as the record is a personal medical record.

Note that this incident book is not the same as an accident book, which is required to be kept under the Social Security (Administration) Act 1992, and the Social Security (Claims and Payments) Act 1992 where there are 10 or more employees working for an employer.

FACT: As an employer, you must provide adequate and appropriate first-aid equipment, facilities and personnel to ensure your employees receive immediate attention if they are injured or taken ill at work.

The Health & Safety (First Aid) Regulations 1981 does require you to provide adequate first aid cover and this includes first aid supplies, people and equipment, but how do you know if you need an;

• Emergency First Aid at Work (EFAW) course (Qualified first aider)
• First Aid at Work (FAW) course (Qualified first aider)
• Re-Qualification First Aid at Work (RFAW) course (Re-certifying first aider for FAW)
• An Appointed person (AP) (NB. NOT a qualified first aider)

and does this need to be over 1, 2 or 3 days (did there not used to be 4 and even 5-day courses)?

In broad terms there are now 3 courses (see above. The Appointed person course was to all intents and purposes replaced in 2008 by the 1 day EFAW course by most companies) which broadly come under the banner of workplace first aid in the UK.

This, however, does not include other specialist subjects including (but not restricted to) paediatric first aid, Forestry first aid, Defibrillator (AED) training, Anaphylaxis and training, which can include a number of specific duties and requirements dependant on job type.

What’s in a name?

An Emergency first aider (EFAW) is a person who has been trained over a minimum of 6 hours, and this allows the first aider to give emergency first aid to someone who is injured, or becomes ill at work.

Full First Aid at Work (FAW) training covers the same syllabus, but is run over a minimum of 3 days (1 18 hours) and includes much more specific injuries such as; treatment of fractures, specific serious wounds and conditions such as Cerebro-Vascular-Accidents (CVA) or strokes, along with other such conditions including anaphylaxis, skull fractures, concussion, spinal injury management and much more.

The 2 day Re-Qualification First aid at Work (RFAW) covers the same syllabus as the 3 day FAW course, but is only open to current FAW first aiders nearing the end of their existing certification, and covers all the subjects contained within the 3 day course, although condensed, with much more student-centred learning.

Where however, an employer considers that they don’t need a first aider for the workplace, they can  appoint someone to look after first aid arrangements. This includes looking after the first aid boxes and equipment and calling the emergency services if required. In reality, this role has largely been discontinued since the advent of the EFAW courses when they were introduced in 2008.

To find out more, contact First Aid Scotland on 0800 0431 327, or 0141 248 4969 for more information.