Why First Aid?

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 Apart from the obvious that we want to help people in their time of medical crisis or injury - whether this is a loved one, a colleague or even a stranger in the street - we can't just stand by and do nothing.  

Despite this 

• Only five per cent of adults in the UK would feel confident, knowledgeable and willing to help someone who is bleeding heavily, is unresponsive and breathing, or is unresponsive and not breathing (Cardiac Arrest). 
• Almost nine in 10  Brits believe that learning CPR is important,  yet less than half of UK adults (43 per cent) have never learnt this life-saving skill 
• People feel least confident administering first aid to a child,  with 8 out of 10 parents admitted they wouldn’t know basic first aid procedures to save their child’s life.   
•  less than a third of people know how to use a defibrillator.  

 But what about in the workplace?  Well, it's the law! 

 The Health and Safety (First-Aid) Regulations 1981 require "employers to provide adequate and appropriate equipment, facilities and personnel to ensure their employees receive immediate attention if they are injured or taken ill at work". 

These Regulations apply to all workplaces including those with less than five employees and to the self-employed.

So what does this mean? 

Every workplace is different, and as such the requirements will differ.

Some employees may work with significant machinery, chemicals, high voltages, vehicles etc and are a high risk environment, where as an office area is likely to be considered low risk so the requirements may greatly differ.

It is down to every employer or an appointed health and safety officer to risk assess the workplace, then based on this assessment will dictate what first aid provisions are required i.e. first aid kits, defibrillators, specialist equipment, as well as the number and level of first aiders needed. 

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