Member Article

First aiders a must for all businesses

Many companies who fail to ensure that they have trained first aiders working over the summer holiday months could potentially be facing prosecution.

St John Ambulance is urging businesses to comply with the Health and Safety (First Aid) Regulations 1981, which means all businesses must have adequate and appropriate equipment, facilities and staff to enable first aid to be given at work.

Fred Owen, Regional Training Manager for St John Ambulance in the North East said: ‘More staff are away in summer than any other time of the year but unfortunately accidents don’t take holidays.

“Employers can unwittingly overlook the fact that their first aiders could be absent when a serious accident happens.”

These problems tend to affect smaller businesses with few employees, where there may only be one first aider. St John Ambulance is advising businesses to carry out risk assessments based on their needs, including first aider absence, likely injuries in the workplace and likely injuries.

He added: “There is no doubt that a trained first aider can be the difference between a life lost and a life saved – sadly up to 150,000* people a year die in situations where first aid could have given them a chance to live.

“We don’t want that to happen at any businesses in the region this summer and would urge employers who might be concerned to fill in the survey or get in touch with us to discuss their needs.”

This was posted in Bdaily's Members' News section by Ruth Mitchell .