Consultation opens on first aid changes

Accident at work

Plans to remove the requirement for first aid training providers to be approved by the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) have gone out to consultation.

The proposal to amend the Health and Safety (First-Aid) Regulations (1981) was made in the independent Löfstedt report into health and safety, and accepted by the Government.

HSE is now seeking views in a six week consultation and its Board will make a recommendation to ministers about how to proceed after considering the responses.

Views are also being sought on whether the Approved Code of Practice (ACoP) is useful and provides practical advice on how to comply with the law. HSE is also proposing revised guidance for employers to help them ensure they adopt proportionate first aid arrangements suitable to their workplace.

Andy McGrory, HSE's consultation manager, said: "We believe this amendment to the First Aid Regulations will give businesses greater flexibility in choosing training and providers that are suitable for their workplace.

"HSE will continue to set the standards for existing training - the one day Emergency First Aid at Work (EFAW) and three day First Aid at Work (FAW) courses - which will continue to be the building blocks in all cases where a first aid needs assessment shows that training is necessary."

Employers will still have to ensure that they have an adequate number of trained first aiders as identified in their needs assessment.

The earliest the law could change is April 2013, with new guidance published in the new year and the amended Regulations coming in to force in April 2013.