HSE approved First Aid at Work courses as from 1st October 2009
You may or may not know that the Health & Safety Executive (HSE) have introduced some major changes to the First Aid at Work Regulations on 1st October 2009. We have produced this briefing sheet to help you understand how the changes will affect your First Aid training provision in your workplace.
There are now the following HSE approved courses:
Emergency First Aid (EFAW, 6 hours): This is comparable to the old 1 day Appointed person course. The crucial difference is that students that have completed this course will be classed as First Aiders in the workplace and will hold a HSE approved Emergency First Aid at Work (EFAW) certificate as opposed to the old Appointed Persons certificate.
First Aid at Work (FAW, 3 days): This course has directly replaced the old 4 day FAW. The content of the course is similar to the old 4 day FAW but some older First Aid practices have been omitted from the topic list to comply with the new time scale. There is still an independent assessment at the end of the course.
First Aid at Work Requalifier (REQ, 2 days): This course is the same as the existing course but with a revised topic list.
Basic Skills Update or Refresher (3 hours): The HSE strongly recommend as good practice that First Aiders undertake a 3 hour basic skills update once a year. The content of this course includes any updates or changes to first aid procedures that may have occurred since the students took their courses.
Appointed Persons:
The HSE no longer “approve” courses for Appointed persons. Should your risk assessment show that you only need Appointed persons, the HSE suggest that although Appointed persons do not need First Aid training to fulfil their role, some kind of Basic Emergency knowledge and skills is advised. The HSE go further by suggesting that rather than appointing untrained persons to take care of casualties in an emergency, First Aiders should be provided. The EFAW 1 day course is then appropriate. Should you choose to provide only Appointed Persons, we continue to provide our Emergency Aid for Appointed Person course (4 hour)
Risk Assessment:
We have very briefly summarised the HSE requirements of first aiders in workplaces. This may help you decide what level training you will need. Should you have any further questions, please do not hesitate to contact
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Low hazards
Less than 50 employees = Appointed Person
50 to 100 employees = Emergency First Aider
100+ employees = First Aiders at the ratio 1:50
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Higher Hazards
Less than 5 employees = Appointed Person
5 to 100 employees = Emergency or full First Aider
100+ employees First aiders at the ratio 1:50
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