How many first-aiders do I need?

Posted 6 years ago

Ensuring that your company provides a safe working environment is a top priority for any organisation. Both your staff and the public should feel safe whilst on your premises. One way of ensuring this is by making sure that you have enough first aiders available.

The type of work you carry out and the number of people that you employ will determine the number of first aiders that you’re legally required to employ.

How many first aiders are legally required?

3.—(1) An employer shall provide, or ensure that there are provided, such equipment and facilities as are adequate and appropriate in the circumstances for enabling first-aid to be rendered to his employees if they are injured or become ill at work.

The Health and Safety (First-Aid) Regulations 1981

As you can see from the above, employers are expected to provide the equipment, facilities and personnel needed to give first aid if employees are injured or taken ill at work. The best way to determine what the “adequate and appropriate equipment, facilities and personnel” might be is to conduct a risk assessment…

How to carry out a first-aid risk assessment

Don’t let the name ‘first-aid risk assessment’ put you off – this process is actually pretty simple!

You need to complete a risk assessment for any risks that can be found in your workplace. So it is worth doing purely to show any relevant authorities that you have been ‘reasonably practicable’ in keeping your workplace safe.

Here are some things you should consider when completing the risk assessment:

Do you work in a high or low-risk workplace?
How many workers do you have?
Do you workers just work on site?
Do you employ any lone-workers?
Do you often have members of the public in/around your workplace?
Is your workplace easily accessible to emergency services?

Conducting a first-aid risk assessment will help you decide how many first-aiders are required. If you are looking for a free online risk assessment tool, head over to My Risk Assessment.

How many first aiders do I need in my workplace?

Low-Risk Workplaces

If you work in a shop, or an office, for example, you work in a relatively low-risk area. Small organisations will need to have at least one First Aid Appointed Person at all times. If you employ over 50 members of staff then you’ll need one first aider for every 100 employees. However, it is still good practice to have one first aider per 50 employees and at least one first aider on each floor.

High-Risk Workplaces

The rules for high-risk workplaces are more stringent. If you work on a construction site, or in a factory for example, then you’ll need a First Aid Appointed Person if you have up to 5 employees. After that, you’ll need one first aider for every 50 members of staff. Other examples of high risk workplaces include mines, railways, and health services.

Do I need a first aid appointed person?

Anyone can be a First Aid Appointed Person. No practical training is necessarily required. Our First Aid Appointed Person Training course explains what a first aid appointed person needs to know. They need to maintain first aid equipment and know how to call the emergency services if they are required. If your risk assessment deduces that you don’t need a qualified first-aider, you should still have an appointed person in place in case an emergency occurs. The recommended number of staff who need this training are:

LOW hazard areas = Fewer than 25 employees in that area = 1 FAAP.

HIGHER hazard areas = Fewer than 5 employees in that area = 1 FAAP

Our First Aid Courses

We have provided a simple ad straightforward guide to show you who needs which of the iHasco first aid courses as well as how many people in each organisation need the relevant practical qualification. This guide will focus on the following course from our First Aid Training Bundle…

Emergency First Aid at Work Refresher Training

First Aid at Work Refresher Training

First Aid Requirements & RIDDOR Training

First Aid Appointed Person Training

To download our guide, click the button below…

Download our First Aid ‘Who needs what?’ Guide today

Get started with a free no obligation trial to any one of these courses today…