In order to determine its first aid requirements, a company first needs to undertake a full risk assessment. A risk assessment is mandated by law, therefore every company regardless of whether it is based in an office building, construction site or chemical plant needs to carry one out.If a company’s risk assessment shows it to have only a very limited health and safety risk, then a designated ‘appointed person’ will normally be provision enough. An appointed person is not a trained first aider; they are simply responsible for managing the first aid kit and calling the emergency in the event of something bad happening. An appointed person is the minimum first aid provision for a company; therefore it is only appropriate for very small firms.
In truth, all but the smallest of companies will need to have more than just an appointed person to fulfil its first aid requirements. In general, companies that have these requirements need to ensure they have a suitable number of staff members who have been on one of two first aid training courses: the Emergency First Aid at Work Course (EFAW), or the First Aid at Work Course (FAW). These courses take one day and three days respectively to complete.
Whilst the one day EFAW course is suitable for low risk working environments, medium to high risk workplaces would benefit from having employees who have been on the three day FAW course as this will provide them with more comprehensive first aid training
