As an employer in the United Kingdom, it is your responsibility to ensure the safety of your workforce. If someone is hurt, you need to make sure that they are able to receive immediate attention should they be injured or taken ill in the workplace, which is why first aid cabinets are such a vital part of the Health and Safety Regulations governed by the HSE.

So what do you need to do, as an employer, to ensure you are compliant with the UK’s first aid regulations?

Employer’s Duties Regarding First Aid

It falls to the employer, or person in charge of the workplace and it’s workforce, to make appropriate arrangements for emergency first aid. The arrangements needed will be dependant on the circumstances of the workplace, and will be based on the health and safety risk assessments carried out for the site.

Some low-risk sites such as offices may only need a first aid box and a designated person who takes charge in first aid situations. This Some small low-risk workplaces need to have only a first-aid cupboard or box and a person appointed to take charge of first-aid arrangements. This designated person doesn’t necessarily need to be first aid trained, it just needs to be someone who’s responsible for calling emergency services and ensuring the first aid cabinet remains stocked and ready to use at all times.

For higher risk sites such as factory floors or construction sites, where there are greater health and safety risks to be considered, one or more trained first aiders are likely to be needed in addition to larger first aid storage with additional stocks to cover all risks.

It is important, no matter what the level of risk, that all employees know the details of first aid arrangements, including who the first aiders are, who the designated persons are and where the first aid cabinet is located/how to access it.

Assessing Your Workplace First Aid Requirements

When deciding what first aid provisions are needed to be stocked in your cabinet, you could consider the circumstances of

• the workplace,
• the workforce
• the hazards/risks

The HSE provide further information on carrying out first aid needs assessment on their website, with example case studies and tools for assessing your individual situation online to help you decide on your requirements.

Arrangements For Your Workplace First Aid

The full arrangements for your workplace first aid will be based on your needs assessment as mentioned above, but there are minimum requirements for all workplaces regardless of risk levels:

• Appropriately stocked first aid cupboard/box
• At least one appointed person in charge of first aid arrangements ( and someone to cover their leave)
• Details of first aid arrangements available for all employees, including appointed persons and trained first aiders, location of first aid storage, etc.

First Aiders

If your needs assessment shows that you require one or more trained first aiders, you will need to choose people who will undergo the appropriate training with a comptetent training provider. You may find that someone on your workforce is already trained in first aid, but if not then you are responsible for arranging first aid training for those who chose to undertake it.

First Aid Storage

At 3D Lockers, we have a range of secure and suitable first aid storage options to meet all workplaces varying needs. From small wall mounted first aid cabinets to large mobile first aid cupboards, we cover all workplace first aid storage needs. If you would like to discuss our storage options further, please call our friendly team on 01924 240291 or email sales@3dlockers.co.uk.