First Aid: Health and Safety Information

What do you do if there’s an accident at work?

Sometimes things go wrong and if someone has been hurt or fallen ill at work it’s important to take care of them straight away, and make any dangerous conditions safe. First aid means treating minor injuries at work and giving immediate attention to more serious casualties until medical help is available.

Through this initial management of injury or illness suffered at work, lives can be saved and minor injuries prevented from becoming major ones.

Reporting accidents and ill health at work is a legal requirement. The enforcing authorities use the information to see the big picture of where injuries, ill health and accidental losses are occurring, and to advise on preventive action.

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Does this concern me?

• Do you have at least the minimum first-aid provision at your workplace? As an employer you must provide first-aid equipment, facilities and personnel appropriate for the circumstances in your workplace. The minimum would be a suitably stocked first-aid box and a person appointed to take charge of first-aid arrangements.



• Do you know whether you might need to provide more than the minimum?



• Do you know which accidents and ill health cases to report, including who should do it, when and how? (Employers, the selfemployed and people in control of work premises all have duties.)



• Do you know what accidents cost and that insurance policies do not cover all the costs?

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What law applies?

• The Health and Safety (First Aid) Regulations 1981



• Reporting of Injuries, Diseases and Dangerous Occurrences Regulations 1995 (RIDDOR)

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• Reduce risks cut costs: The real costs of accidents and ill health at work INDG355 (available in packs of 15, ISBN 0717623378 £5.00)



• Regulations HSE31(rev1) (available in packs of 10 ISBN 071762441 2 £5.00)

First aid website: www.hse.gov.uk/firstaid
www.riddor.gov.uk

Related Publications:

HSE Basic Advice on first aid at work - Poster £7.23 find out more	HSE L74 First Aid at Work. The Health and safety (First Aid) Regulations 1981 £8.75 find out more	Electric Shock -Health and Safety Poster £14.95 find out more
HSE L73 A guide to the Reporting of Injuries, Diseases and Dangerous Occurrences Regulations 1995 (RIDDOR) £11.95 find out more	HSE HSG245 Investigating accidents and incidents £9.50 find out more	HSE Accident Book BI 510 £4.75 find out more