Health and safety first aid 
Under health and safety law, you must have first aid provision in your workplace, as you are responsible for making sure that your employees receive immediate help if they are taken ill or are injured at work. It is imperative to remember that accidents and illness can occur at any time and first aid can save lives and prevent minor injuries from becoming major ones. First aid provision needs to available at all time people are at work.
Under health and safety law, you must also report and maintain a record of certain injuries, incidents and cases of work-related disease.
Your provisions will depend on the particular factors in your workplace and you need to evaluate what your first-aid needs are. Some small workplaces may only need the minimum provision. But there are factors that might mean you need greater provision.
The minimum first aid provision on any work site is:
- a suitably stocked first-aid box
- an appointed person to take charge of first-aid arrangements
- information for all employees giving details of first-aid arrangements
When you evaluate the first-aid needs for your workplace you might decide that you need a qualified first-aider. A first-aider is someone who has undertaken training and has a qualification that the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) approves. This means that they must hold a valid certificate of competence in either:
- first aid at work, issued by a training organisation approved by HSE
- emergency first aid at work, issued by a training organisation approved by HSE
If you decide you don’t need a first-aider in your workplace, you should appoint someone to take charge of first-aid arrangements. The job of this appointed person includes looking after first-aid equipment and facilities and calling the emergency services when required. They can also provide emergency cover where a first-aider is absent due to unexpected circumstances (annual leave does not count). Appointed persons do not need first-aid training, though emergency first-aid courses are available.
Even if you decide first-aiders are unnecessary, there is still the possibility of an accident or illness, so you may wish to consider providing qualified first-aiders. Appointed persons are not necessary where there are an adequate number of first-aiders.
Under health and safety law, you must report and keep a record of certain injuries, incidents and cases of work-related disease. Under RIDDOR, if a reportable incident happens at your place of work, you are legally obliged to report it to the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) as soon as possible.
Keeping records will help you to identify patterns of accidents and injuries, and will help when completing your risk assessment. Your insurance company may also want to see your records if there is a work-related claim.
If you employ other people, are self-employed or in charge of premises where work takes place, you need to be aware of the provisions of the Reporting of Injuries, Diseases and Dangerous Occurrences Regulations 1995 (RIDDOR).
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