As a consequence of the legislation set out by the Health and Safety Executive, the requirement to provide first aid in our business has been given a much higher profile. In practice, your ongoing commitment to first aid training will be seen as a measure of your concern for staff wellbeing, and you can be confident that accidents, injuries and health problems will be treated promptly and effectively. The parallel economic benefit for your business will see sick or injured staff restored to work with minimum disruption and efficient action from a trained first aider.

Basically employers need to asses the following when deciding what provision of first aid cover to provide.

• Workplace hazards and risks
• The size of the organisation
• The organisation's history of accidents
• The nature and distribution of the workforce
• The remoteness of the site from emergency medical services
• The needs of travelling, remote and lone workers
• Employees working on shared or multi-occupied sites
• Annual leave and other absences of first aiders and appointed persons

The Health and Safety Executive sets out these reccomendations to reduce the effects of injury or illness suffered at work, either caused by the work itself or by some factor outside the employer's control. First aid provision must be 'adequate and appropriate in the circumstances'. This means that sufficient first aid personnel and facilities should be available.