Every UK employer has a duty to protect their employees while they are doing work for them. Being an absolute minimum, employers must have an initial aid box and an appointed person in charge in case of an emergency. Every employer also has the responsibility to supply on-going information with their employees about first aid. For some companies however, sending selected employees on first aid classes proves to be the safest & most responsible approach to medical in the workplace. An employee that has been trained by an approved organization and holds a qualification in medical at work can be an asset with their company and their fellow colleagues.
Depending on size of the company, it's advisable for employers to send numerous their employees to attend first aid classes so that there will be a qualified first-aider readily available should a predicament arise. Even small companies with fewer employees should still consider sending one or two people to become qualified first-aiders. As an employer it is not just a legal obligation to ensure that first aid is sufficiently catered for, however in extreme circumstances it might mean the difference between life and death.
First aid training can help save lives, which should be enough of an incentive for all employers, regardless of the size or nature of their business, to send employees on medical classes. These courses can be conducted either on or off site and vary in length from half day refresher sessions to intensive three day courses. The very best first aid courses usually adopt a more practical and hands on 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 health and safety risks are more likely to require a trained and qualified first-aider. In high risk workplaces, such as for example building sites for example, failure to provide first aid in the event of an emergency may result in a tragic outcome. Workers in these situations that are injured or taken ill need immediate and adequate medical attention until the emergency services arrive, and so these companies need to have trained first-aiders available on site always.
Low Risk Workplaces
Even workplaces that are considered low risk, such as for example 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 first aid in the workplace, whatever the size of the business.
Legal duties
If employers fail to implement first aid procedures, they could find themselves running into trouble with regulations. MEDICAL and Safety (First-Aid) Regulations 1981 requires employers to carry out an assessment, considering workplace hazards, risks and other relevant factors. Due to this assessment, the Regulations require employers to provide 'adequate and appropriate' equipment, facilities and personnel, including sending employees to medical classes if deemed appropriate. These Regulations connect with all workplaces including those with significantly less than five employees (see 'Low Risk Workplaces' above).
https://firstaidtrainingcumbria.co.uk/best-first-aid-course-cumbria/ stands to reason that the more workers that employers send on medical training, the higher their chances will be of handling a first aid emergency if the situation presents itself. The good news is that if an employer believes they may not have sufficient trained first-aiders, it's easy enough just to send more of these employees on a training course. Some employers are reluctant to get this done however, believing that medical courses are expensive and time consuming. In reality though, this is often false; first aid training courses could be completed in as little as half of a day or around three days, depending on course. Which means that employers won't need to part with large sums of money or lose key members of staff for extended periods of time.
Moreover, this means that those employers will have the peace of mind of knowing that their employees are looked after and that the company's legal obligations are being fulfilled.