Take the First Aid challenge
We often get asked ‘Do I have to have had first aid training?’…
So - do you? Take a look at the below 8 questions that should help you decide.
1. If I cut myself with a chainsaw and cut into my femoral artery, how long do I have to live?
2. If someone is choking - colleague, mum, brother, friend - will they be alive by the time the Ambulance comes?
3. How many bandages will stop a catastrophic bleed?
4. If someone has a head trauma injury, how long do you wait for the ambulance?
5. Can you be a designated first aider with an awareness First aid course on the internet?
6. Say a tree lands on you, you are shouting for help. The tree needs to be lifted, what the best way of doing this?
7. What’s the difference between heat stroke and heat exhaustion?
8. The trained First Aider has an accident - unconscious, bleeding, head trauma, open fracture, what are you going to do?
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.
Your arrangements will depend on the particular circumstances in your workplace and you need to assess what your first-aid needs are.
As a minimum, you must have:
■ a suitably stocked first-aid box;
■ an appointed person to take charge of first-aid arrangements;
■ information for all employees giving details of first-aid arrangements.
There is no legal requirement for operators to hold an emergency first-aid at work certificate but we recommend they do so. Anyone working with chainsaws needs to be trained in emergency first aid, and in particular how to control major bleeding and deal with crush injuries. In remote sites, people who have been injured may also be at risk of hypothermia. Make sure operators always carry a personal first- aid kit (incorporating a large wound dressing) with them and have reasonable access to a more comprehensive kit. (www.hse.gov.uk/firstaid).
