A Guide to First Aid at Work

Consider this from 2006/7

Number of workers killed

241

Number of injuries reported to RIDDOR

141,350

Number of reportable injuries

274,000

Number of days lost to injury

6 MILLION,

number of days lost to ill health

36 MILLION

The HSE and FAW System

Employers are under a duty to provide adequate and appropriate first aid provision to employees at all work places, this includes small business and the self employed. The Health and Safety (First Aid) Regulations 1981 introduced and developed these principles and the Health and Safety Executive are the Government organisation which monitor this area, they can and will prosecute employers who do not meet legal requirements for reducing and managing risk.

Responsible employers will therefore takes steps to assess risk in the workplace, reduce risk where possible and if necessary provide staff who are trained in first aid and who have the facilities to deal with a medical emergency until professional help can arrive. Whilst the regulations are concerned with risk and precautions for employees it is expected that responsible employers will also take into account risks to visitors to the workplace such as customers and members of the public.

There is a lot of free literature and guidance leaflets that the HSE have produced to aid employers in their responsibilities. Further information can be found at the HSE website.

In addition the HSE have created a guide to aid employers assess the type and volume of first aid trained employers needed for their workplace. This is a guide only and is based upon the total number of employees and the risk nature of the work and environment itself. This can be seen below in table form.

Trained first aiders needed for their workplace

Category of Risk	Number of employees at location	Suggested number of First Aid personnel
Low Risk eg Shops, Offices, Libraries.	Fewer than 50	At least one Appointed Person
	50 - 100	At least one First Aider
	More than 100	One additional First Aider for every 100 employed
Medium Risk eg. Light Engineering, Assembly Work, Food Processing, Warehouse	Fewer than 20	At least one Appointed Person
	20 - 100	At least one First Aider per 50 employed (or part thereof)
	More than 100	One additional First Aider for every 10 employed
High Risk eg. Construction, Slaughterhouse, Extensive work with dangerous machinery/sharp instruments	Fewer than 5	At least one Appointed Person
	5 - 50	At least one First Aider
	More than 50	One additional First Aider for every 50 employed