Under legislation, all employers must provide a safe working environment for their employees and this includes having the required provision of first aiders. This responsibility can involve providing the facilities, equipment and people required to deliver first aid within your business to your employees.

Your responsibility as an employer is to the employees in your business but is good practice to provide first aid provision to any visitors or members of the public on your premises.

What provision do you have to provide?

The minimum amount of provision for any workplace is:

• An adequately stocked first aid kit
• Someone appointed to take care of your first-aid arrangements (First Aid Appointed Person)
• Inform your employees about your first-aid arrangements

The person appointed to take care of your first aid coordinates any first aid equipment and will call the emergency services in the event of an incident, but they don’t need formal training. First aiders are in addition to this role.

How many first aiders do we need?

The number of first aiders required varies depending on the type of business you run and the level of risk or hazard within the business as well as the number of people you have within each building.

To correctly work out the number of first aiders required you will need to conduct a first aid risk assessment. This assessment doesn’t need to be onerous or conducted by a professional, it just needs to show that you have gone through a formal process of assessing your first aid requirements.

You will need to ask questions like:

• What level of risk does your workplace pose – low or high risk?
• How many employees do you have?
• How many sites/buildings do you have and what is the split of employees per site?
• Does the public or visitors access your building or sites?
• Do your employees work offsite?

This will help you to gather the facts and highlight any areas of risk.

How do low and high-risk workplaces differ?

Low-risk workplaces are places like offices and retail where there are low health and safety risks. In these types of workplaces, the requirement is to have one first aider if you have over 25 employees and there should be one per 100 employees. However, best practice is often to have one per floor. For smaller businesses, you would need a First Aid Appointed Person presented at all times.

In high-risk workplaces, such as in manufacturing, engineering and construction, there is a greater need for more first aiders. The requirement is for one first aider if you have more than five employees and you must have one per 50 employees.

Don’t forget to factor in additional cover for sickness, holiday periods and shift patterns.

If you are unsure of your first aid requirements, why not try our First Aid Needs Calculator:

First aid calculator

A couple of minutes to input details about your organisation will generate a bespoke report detailing what level of first aid cover you need to meet HSE guidelines .You can opt to keep it completely confidential if you prefer. It just helps us give you the best advice and quote for training.

Training

We offer a range of first aid courses for workplaces including the full 3 day First Aid at Work, 2 day requalification course and Emergency First Aid at Work courses that cater for all needs whether your business is classed as low or high-risk business or is small or large.

If you have a defibrillator on site then staff need to receive training in its use and  maintenance.

Contact us to find out more.