Draft Guidance on Changes to First aid Training in the workplace released

A new draft guidance document has been published by the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) to help employers understand changes to first aid training in the workplace.

The HSE have issued two pieces of guidance to companies/businesses about the removal of HSE approved first aid training providers.

To view the guidance issued by the HSE, you the following link takes you directly to the HSE website, www.hse.gov.uk/firstaid/proposed-changes-first-aid-regulations.htm. To issue this guidance, the HSE has undertaken a consultation exercise to canvass the opinions of any stake holders. The draft documents are only guidance at the moment and need to be passed into law by the government.

The changes will allow organisations greater flexibility in choosing a training provider and they do not have to be HSE approved. These changes will not come into place until at least the 1st October 2013. Until this date first aid training should still be provided by an organisation which is approved by the Health and Safety Executive.

The Health and Safety Executive will still retain the role of setting the syllabus (course content) of first aid courses.

Post the new changes being introduced, businesses will still have to carry out a needs based risk assessment of their first aid requirements.

The first guidance document will help businesses make an assessment of their first aid training requirements and to put the necessary provision in place. The second document gives advice and guidance on how to go about selecting an appropriate training provider to deliver the first aid training.

If you wish to view a list of all the HSE approved training organisations, you can visit the HSE website, which lists them all.

The Health and Safety Executive are still welcoming views and opinions on the proposed changes from the public and stake holders.