The Health & Safety Executive First Aid Bulletin
Today (26th July 2019) the Health & Safety executive (HSE) issued their First Aid bulletin, in which they made some points expressly clear.
Because these are publicly accessible, we’ve transcribed them here for you, as they are for both clients and trainers to read;
First Aid at Work Training – A Notice For Employers And Training Providers
“This is a joint statement by the Health and Safety Executive and the *First Aid at Work Quality Partnership (FAWQP)
It has been brought to the attention of the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) that some organisations seeking to commission First Aid at Work (FAW) training have required the training to be delivered over significantly shorter time periods than those recommended in HSE guidance and with student/trainer ratios that could compromise the effectiveness of the training.
The HSE guidance strongly recommends that First Aid at Work training (FAW) should be for 18 hours over a minimum period of 3 days and Emergency First Aid at Work (EFAW) 6 hours over a minimum of 1 day. FAW requalification training should be for 12 hours over a minimum of 2 days, and all of these recommended periods exclude breaks.
Class sizes
Class sizes for the training should be appropriate. For example, where first-aid training is provided in class sizes of greater than 12, unless additional trainers and/or assessors are provided there may be concerns over addressing the training needs of individual candidates or adequately assessing their competence.
We believe that adhering to the recommended training hours and having appropriate trainer/student ratios are important factors in ensuring that the training syllabus is covered adequately and that students absorb fully what they have learned and are able to demonstrate relevant competencies.
Employers duties
Employers are required to undertake due diligence when selecting their first aid training and may be asked to demonstrate to an HSE or local authority inspector that their first aid provision is adequate and appropriate.
*The First Aid at Work Quality Partnership membership includes a wide range of first aid training standard setters and providers and responsible bodies of medical opinion. The following organisations have added their endorsements to this important statement.
British Red Cross, First Aid Awarding Organisations forum (FAAOF), First Aid Industry Body (FAIB), Royal Life Saving Society, St Andrew’s First Aid, St John Ambulance, West Midlands Ambulance Service.”
First Aid Bulletin Our thoughts
The message contained within the first aid bulletin is clear. If the first aid at work training courses that you undertake are less than 6, 12 or 18 hours (excluding breaks) as appropriate, in the eyes of the bodies mentioned above, you have not been trained in accordance with HSE requirements. As such, your training certificate is in effect, invalid. This will ultimately have a knock on effect on your insurance, most likely making it invalid.
All our courses comply with these requirements & always have done.
We have occasionally received requests for courses to be shorter in duration than the timescales required by the HSE. This is something that we will never do.
You will never find yourself with substandard training when you engage Chris Garland Training as your training provider.
You can find out fore information about what employers are required to do regarding first aid here >> Link
We genuinely hope that you’ve found this article useful to you. We’d love to hear from you, so please do comment below. Chris
