Firms warned over first aider rules

More than three quarters of UK employers have inadvertently broken health and safety laws at different times in the past by having no trained first aiders present in the workplace, according to a charity.

But even those that appear to be employing appropriate numbers of skilled personnel in this area often misinterpret guidelines introduced last October by the Health and Safety Executive (HSE), the St John’s Ambulance has warned.

The regulations state that organisations must no longer simply provide adequate levels of trained first aiders, the number of which is decided based on assessments to determine whether the business falls into a low, medium or high risk category.

Instead they now have to ensure that there is adequate cover in place for planned staff absences, which includes holiday and sickness, in order to ensure that someone else can step in and assume the role.