First Aid Update
First aid at work: Guidance on regulations
This guidance is for employers. It sets out what you need to do to address first-aid provision in the workplace.
Publication:
2013 (as amended 2018 and 2024)
Series code:
L74 (Third edition)
Details
This document provides guidance on:
- managing the provision of first aid (first-aid kit, equipment, rooms etc)
- requirements and training for first-aiders
- requirements for appointed persons
- making employees aware of first-aid arrangements
- first aid and the self-employed
- cases where first-aid regulations do not apply
The third edition was reissued with minor amendments in 2018 to:
- further clarify the significance of the 2013 amendment to regulation 3(2), which ended HSE’s approval of first-aid training providers
- update guidance on the use of automated external defibrillators, and blended learning in first-aid training
- incorporate some additional amendments to take account of other previous legislative changes
The third edition has been further updated with minor amendments in 2024 to:
- emphasise employers’ responsibilities to take account of employees’ mental health in their first-aid needs assessment
- change the term ‘catastrophic bleeding’ to ‘life-threatening bleeding’ with more guidance on what employers should do if they identify this as a risk in their workplace
- simplify guidance on how to decide what first aid to provide