Get up to date with first aid regulations

Andrew New, training manager, St John Ambulance on the importance of first aid in the workplace.

The Health and Safety Executive (HSE) has now ceased regulating workplace first aid training qualifications, following the law coming into force on Tuesday. Employers are no longer restricted to choosing an HSE-approved training provider, giving businesses more flexibility to train with a provider that suits their needs.

While this move is positive, employers need to ensure their duty of care to their employees remains, alongside their adherence to the Health & Safety (First Aid) Regulations 1981.

Every year in the UK there are 114,000 reportable workplace injuries. In 2012/13 alone, 148 people died in the workplace. The construction industry traditionally holds the record for the worst fatality and injury rates in the UK – there were 39 fatalities in the past year which is higher than the 29 recorded for agriculture and nearly double the 20 in manufacturing.

Ill health, originating in or made worse by the workplace, also significantly contributes to the £13.4bn cost to businesses. The latest statistics in construction show an estimated 74,000 total cases and 31,000 new cases of work-related ill health and a loss of 1.7 million working days, showing a clear need across the sector to additionally address health problems.

Although fatal accidents reduced this year, construction firms need to understand the changes being implemented and ensure that good first aid provision is in place if the industry is to continue reducing these figures.                

Why is the HSE changing?   

First aid is an essential part of workplace health and safety strategies. The Health and Safety (First Aid) Regulations (FAR) has long governed first aid in the workplace, and since 1982 has required the HSE to approve the qualifications of first aid personnel and the training they receive. The HSE’s decision in February of this year to overhaul its system followed a report made by Professor Ragnar E Löfstedt in 2011, which set out to reduce the health and safety red tape and regulatory burden on public and private sector organisations.     

Following extensive public consultations, during which employers, industry bodies, training providers and the public were given the opportunity to contribute their thoughts on these changes, the HSE has developed new documents to guide businesses as they navigate the shift in policy.

Selecting a first aid training provider

Construction managers can now use the Regulations and Guidance (L74) document to complete a first aid needs assessment. This will help companies to identify the level of first aid cover required, the type of training provider that is needed, and to obtain personalised first aid courses. This is a great initiative from the HSE and particularly useful for the construction industry as it allows firms to select a training provider with the necessary requirements. For example, ensuring training reflects the major accidents recorded for construction workers such as fall from heights, and on the health side, exposure to chemicals and dusts.

St John Ambulance recommends employers use the guidance on Selecting a first aid training provider (GEIS3) to undertake the necessary due diligence and make sure that they are confident in their choice of trainer.    

The next steps

The HSE will continue to advise employers of the required educational and clinical standards.  However, as first aid training providers will no longer be able to demonstrate quality through holding an HSE license, employers will need to exercise due diligence by checking that the training provider they use is compliant with the educational and clinical standards to teach first aid. Construction firms will be able to choose their training providers between the Voluntary Aid Societies (St John Ambulance, British Red Cross, and St Andrew’s Ambulance), Registered Centres of Awarding Organisations, and companies affiliated to a Trade/Industry Associations quality solution and those unaffiliated.

Whether the HSE’s guidance will be explicit enough for employers will be more apparent over the coming months and into 2014. St John Ambulance recommends construction firms take this opportunity to review the legislation and address their first aid provisions to stop needless deaths from occurring. 

For more information, visit www.sja.org.uk/firstaidregulations, or call us on 0844 770 4800 to speak with an adviser