Every UK employer has a duty to protect their workers while they are working for them. Being an absolute minimum, employers should have a first aid box and an appointed person in charge in case of an emergency. Every employer also has the responsibility to provide on-going information with their employees about first aid. For some companies however, sending selected employees on first aid training courses proves to function as safest & most responsible approach to first aid in the workplace. A worker that has been trained by an approved organization and holds a qualification in medical at work is an asset with their company and their fellow colleagues.

With regards to the size of the company, it’s advisable for employers to send a number of their employees to attend first aid training courses so that there will always be a qualified first-aider readily available should a predicament arise. Even small companies with fewer employees should still consider sending a couple of people to become qualified first-aiders. Being an employer it is not only a legal obligation to ensure medical is sufficiently catered for, however in extreme circumstances it might mean the difference between life and death.

First aid training might help save lives, that ought to be enough of an incentive for all employers, regardless of the size or nature of these business, to send employees on first aid training courses. These courses could be conducted either on or off site and vary long from half day refresher sessions to intensive three day courses. The very best first aid courses usually adopt a far more practical and practical approach, concentrating on scenario based training methods that can build confidence and provide very real and practical life-saving skills.

High Risk Workplaces

Workplaces where you can find more significant safe practices risks are more likely to require a trained and qualified first-aider. In high risk workplaces, such as for example building sites for instance, failure to provide medical in the event of an emergency could well result in a tragic outcome. Workers in these circumstances that are injured or taken ill need immediate and adequate medical assistance until the emergency services arrive, and so these companies have to have trained first-aiders on site at all times.

Low Risk Workplaces

Even workplaces that are considered low risk, such as small offices with fewer employees should consider sending their employees on first aid training courses. Employers have both a moral and legal obligation to implement medical in the workplace, whatever the size of the business.

Legal duties

If employers neglect to implement medical procedures, they could end up running into trouble with the law. MEDICAL and Safety (First-Aid) Regulations 1981 requires employers to handle an assessment, considering workplace hazards, risks and other relevant factors. Because of this assessment, the Regulations require employers to provide ‘adequate and appropriate’ equipment, facilities and personnel, including sending employees to first aid training courses if deemed appropriate. These Regulations apply to all workplaces including those with significantly less than five employees (see ‘Low Risk Workplaces’ above).

Multiple First Aiders

It stands to reason that the more workers that employers send on first aid training, the higher their chances will be of handling a first aid emergency if the situation presents itself. Fortunately that if an employer believes they may not have enough trained first-aiders, it’s easy enough just to send more of these employees on an exercise course. Some employers are reluctant to get this done however, believing that medical courses are costly and time consuming. First Aid Course Barrow-in-Furness is though, this is very often false; first aid classes could be completed in as little as half a day or around three days, with regards to the course. This means that employers won’t have to part with large sums of money or lose key members of staff for extended periods of time.

Moreover, it means that those employers could have the reassurance of knowing that their workers are looked after and that the company’s legal obligations are being fulfilled.