The Health and Safety (First Aid) Regulations 1981 require you to provide adequate and appropriate equipment, facilities and personnel to enable first aid to be given to your employees if they are injured or become ill at work.
The minimum first aid provision is:-
You may need thereafter provision for first aid depending on your work activity; examples include:-
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working with dangerous machinery or hazardous substances;
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where the work area is remote from emergency medical services;
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where you have large numbers of employees.
You need to make an assessment of what first aid provisions you will need, i.e. trained staff, equipment and facilities.
Assessing Your First Aid Needs
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Category of risk |
Numbers employed at any location |
Suggested number of first aid personnel |
|
Lower risk
e.g. shops and offices, libraries |
Fewer than 30
50-100
More than 100 |
At least one appointed person
At least one first-aider
One additional first-aider for every 100 employed |
|
Medium risk
e.g. light engineering and 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 five
5-50
More than 50 |
At least one appointed person
At least one first-aider
One additional first-aider for every 50 employed |
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Contents of the First Aid Box
- a leaflet giving general guidance on first aid, e.g. HSE leaflet Basic advice on first aid at work;
- 20 individually wrapped sterile adhesive dressings (assorted sizes);
- two sterile eye pads;
- six safety pins;
- six medium-sized (approximately 12 cm x 12 cm) individually-wrapped sterile unmedicated wound dressings;
- two large (approximately 18 cm x 18 cm) individually-wrapped sterile unmedicated wound dressings;
- one pair of disposable gloves.
This is a suggested contents list only,
You should not keep tablets or medicines in the first-aid box.
The appointed person: -
- takes charge when an injury occurs;
- takes control of the first aid equipment, ensuring it is well stocked;
- should not attempt to give first aid for which they have not been trained.
The first-aider: -
A first-aider is someone who has undergone an HSE-approved training course in administering first aid at work.
Informing Staff: -
You must inform your staff of the first aid arrangements (notices detailing the first-aider or appointed person, and the location of the first aid box are an acceptable common practice).
Recording Injuries in an Accident Book
Under the Social Security (Claims and Payments) Regulations 1979 and the Social Security Administrative Act 1992 you must keep records of injuries to employees in an accident book:-
- You should investigate and discover the cause of the accident;
- You must keep these records for 3 years.
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