Health And Safety/employment Law

[Hettyjen]

I work for a small firm working with the public, staff have been informed the we all have to be first aid trained to for fill our health and safety obligations. Courses are being arranged. Since we always have a manager present, can we refuse? Some younger staff feel they would not want that responsibility. We all would rather the duty manager take this responsibility. Does anyone have any employment law knowledge and can advise please.

[New Judge]

Many companies hide their activities under “Elf n’ Safety”.

As far as I am aware there is no obligation under the Health and Safety at Work Act for all staff to be trained in first aid.

[mccfluff]

you only need to have x a mount of first aid trained people for x amount of staff and under 5 employees i don;t think it applies.

how many staff do you have, we have 2 fully trained first aiders and 2 emergency at work trained and we are over staffed for our premises, we have roughly 90/100 here.

however its a useful thing to have on your cv, if the company are paying for it, i would do it

[mushroom25]

there's no hard and fast rules - it's all down to the risks involved, and how they can be managed.

have a look at this
http://www.hse.gov.uk/pubns/books/l74.htm

also, this tool http://www.hse.gov.uk/firstaid/assessmenttool.htm will help the company plan what it needs.

[ABerrant]

The Health and Safety (First-Aid) Regulations 1981 require employers to provide adequate and appropriate equipment, facilities and personnel to ensure their employees receive immediate attention if they are injured or taken ill at work. These Regulations apply to all workplaces including those with less than five employees and to the self-employed.

What is ‘adequate and appropriate’ will depend on the circumstances in the workplace. This includes whether trained first-aiders are needed, what should be included in a first-aid box and if a first-aid room is required. Employers should carry out an assessment of first-aid needs to determine what to provide.

The Regulations do not place a legal duty on employers to make first-aid provision for non-employees such as the public or children in schools. However, HSE strongly recommends that non-employees are included in an assessment of first-aid needs and that provision is made for them.

http://www.hse.gov.uk/firstaid/legislation.htm

[mccfluff]

http://www.hse.gov.uk/pubns/indg214.pdf

this leaflet very informative

[Peter Pedant]

No there is no law that says you have to be a first aider. Your employer could make it a condition in your work contract.

In a work situation, do you have to render first aid to a walk-in as a condition of your work ?

If you have a first aid badge n trg do you have to give first aid to a walk in customer ?

If you give first aid, can you be screwed for giving really crap first aid ?

and in all these circumstances, can you evade liability if you say: ( and that would be all ten on the work-floor huddling to gether and perhaps locking themselves in a back-room) " oo no we dont do any of that ! Where's the manager ? He got a shiny first aid badge. "

Jesus where do you work ? I will keep away from the place.
In a recent thread on helping a stranger, three would get their hands dirty ( Caran, Dizmouk and myself ) and the rest would stand-by asking questions. I agree "coulda woulda shoulda" is different from actually doing.

In the NHS the answer is yes, yes, yes and no - by the way

It sounds as tho these courses are in relation to or after an incident where employees refused to help or give first aid. I have to say as an employer I would try to fire anyone who did that.

OK I'll put it another way, when it happened to me, I tried to get refusing co-employees fired. ( I was the first aider and was refused assistance)

[boxtops]

It depends where you work - for instance, in our area, all the staff in GP practices have to be trained in basic life support, in case anyone collapses in the surgery - so resus is understood before the ambulance arrives. Those who have said you only need so many trained first aiders for so many staff are correct - and first aid's not the same as resus training. It's a very useful skill to have though, but would your employer be expecting you to perform first aid on the members of the public? it so that's a dodgy area - far better to put the accident in the accident book and send them to your local MIU for treatment.

[bednobs]

really good answers above. I don't really see the problem - being trained in first aid is a bonus to everyone not just in a work situation, you never know when your child may start to choke, or you mum might trip up or you get a burn and need to know a bit of first aid. It's a double bonus f work are paying for the course AND giving you time off to attend. If everyone had FA training, then the ones who don't want the responsibility could simply stand back and let the others do whatever is needed.

[Hettyjen]

Thanks very much to all