First Aid
The Health and Safety Executive (HSE) is making changes to the first aid at work (FAW) training regime to make it more flexible – saving businesses time and money without compromising health and safety.
The new guidance will see the mandatory four-day FAW training courses reduced to three days and there will also be an option for a one day course for smaller businesses. All FAW qualified first aiders will still have to attend a two-day requalification course every three years.
The changes have been made following feedback from businesses across
Great Britain . Employers recognised the need for first aid training but were concerned about releasing employees for four days training.
The revised guidance will help employers to get first aid training that suits their business needs and saves them both time and money.”
The new guidance also suggests [note only suggests] that refresher training taken annually would be beneficial to first aiders and their employers, with staff feeling better placed to deal with an incident in their workplace.
New guidance is available at www.hse.gov.uk/firstaid
All FAW training companies have to be approved by HSE and there is a current approval list totaling around 1200 companies which can all be contacted via HSE’s website.
Note
The Health and Safety (First-Aid) Regulations 1981 require employers to provide suitable first aid equipment, facilities and personnel to enable immediate assistance to be given to employees if they are injured or taken ill at work.
For more information on the review of the regulations visit: www.hse.gov.uk/firstaid/program.htm
There are no changes to current legislation which governs employers’ legal responsibilities on FAW. The only changes that have been made are to the guidance and if this is followed employers should be best placed to meet their legal responsibilities.
Safety Policy
The HSE has recently published a new sample health and safety policy. What’s different about this document and can you learn anything from it?
In September, the HSE gave its sample health and safety policy a significant face-lift.
The result is something quite different from its predecessor. In fact, it’s unlike any health and safety policy I’ve ever seen. It’s set out in a similar way to the HSE’s sample risk assessments; it includes the names of those with specific safety responsibilities and it has a brief summary of the necessary actions/arrangements to make the workplace safer.
The requirement for companies that have five or more employees to have a formal health and safety policy was introduced by the Health and Safety at Work etc. Act 1974 (HSWA).
This requirement hasn’t changed, or been amended. The HSE has introduced this new document to make it shorter and more user-friendly. The previous sample policy document ran to eleven pages; this one covers everything on a single page.
Tip 1. Follow the HSE’s lead and keep your health and safety policy as short as possible. In fact, there’s nothing stopping you from using this new layout as a template. It’s short, simple and clear, and will be favoured by inspectors.
Tip 2. To comply with the HSWA, your policy must state that you will: (1) consult with your employees on health and safety issues; (2) identify significant risks and appropriate ways of managing them; (3) provide staff with adequate training; (4) implement emergency procedures; and (5) maintain a safe workplace.
Tip 3. It should also identify those with specific responsibilities, e.g. the individual who ensures that risk assessments are completed.
Finally, it should be signed by a director.
Follow the HSE’s lead and keep your health and safety policy short and simple. Identify those with specific responsibilities and include a summary of actions/ arrangements necessary to manage risks.
Be Safe
JB
