New First Aid at Work Guidance for N.I. Employers comes into operation 1 September 2011

The Health and Safety Executive for Northern Ireland (HSENI) is making changes to the first aid at work (FAW) training regime to make it more flexible - saving businesses time and money without compromising health and safety.

The new guidance will see the mandatory four day FAW training courses reduced to three days and there will also be an option for a one day course for smaller low risk businesses.

Those who have completed the three day course can maintain their certificate by attending a two day requalification course every three years. These changes bring HSENI in line with the Health and Safety Executive in Great Britain.

Dr Bryan Monson, Deputy Chief Executive of HSENI, said: "First aid at work can help to save lives and prevent minor injuries becoming major ones. The revised guidance will help employers to get first aid training that suits their business needs and saves them both time and money. First aid skills learnt at work are also useful in many other areas of life."

The new guidance also suggests that refresher training taken annually would be beneficial to first aiders and their employers, with staff feeling better placed to deal with an incident in their workplace.

The new guidance will be issued on 1 September and will be available at http://www.hseni.gov.uk/first_aid_at_work_approved_code_of_practice_2011.pdf  

Organisations who provide first aid at work training must be approved by HSENI and there is a current approval list totalling around 50 companies. Their details are available on the HSENI website.