Clearview Midlands November 2013 - Issue 144 | Page 22

industrynews

ARE YOUR FIRST AID PROCEDURES
IN GOOD HEALTH?
First aid legislation can be
confusing and with the majority
of businesses forced to selfregulate, many organisations
are failing to meet the legal
requirements according to
a warning from workplace
equipment supplier Slingsby.
Under The Health and Safety
(First-Aid) Regulations 1981
employers must provide ‘adequate
and appropriate’ first-aid
equipment, facilities and training

so that anyone who has an accident
can receive immediate help.
As part of this legislation all
workplaces must provide a first
aid box that is appropriate to the
number of employees and suitably
stocked depending on specific
hazards. Plus all employers
should have at least one trained
first aider, although businesses
in high-risk industries and those
with large numbers of employees
require considerably more.

Lee Wright, Marketing
Director at Slingsby,
explains: “Every workplace
has to undertake a thorough
assessment of first-aid needs
on a regular basis and someone
needs to be made responsible
for first-aid. Typically, the
appointed person will look
after all first aid equipment and
be responsible for calling the
emergency services in the event
of an accident.”

Lee adds: “It’s important to
make all employees aware of the
first aid procedures and notices
should be displayed explaining
where first aid equipment is kept
and who the relevant people are
to administer it.”

CHANGES TO REPORTING REQUIREMENTS
The Health and Safety Executive (HSE) has
formally implemented changes to simplify the
mandatory reporting of workplace injuries for
businesses.
Changes to the Reporting of Injuries, Diseases
and Dangerous Occurrences Regulations
(RIDDOR) 1995 clarify and simplify the
reporting requirements, while ensuring that the
data collected gives an accurate and useful picture
of workplace incidents. The change affects all
employers, including the self-employed. The
main changes are in the following areas:
• The classification of ‘major injuries’ to workers
replaced with a shorter list of ‘specified
injuries’

• The existing schedule detailing 47 types of
industrial disease replaced with eight categories
of reportable work-related illness
• Fewer types of ‘dangerous occurrence’ require
reporting
There are no significant changes to the
reporting requirements for:
• Fatal accidents
• Accidents to non-workers (members of the
public)
• Accidents resulting in a worker being unable to
perform their normal range of duties for more
than seven days
• How an incident at work is reported and the
criteria that determine whether an incident

should be investigated remain the same.
Commenting on the impact of the changes,
Dave Charnock, HSE policy lead for the
revisions to RIDDOR, explained: “Reporting
under R