It is likely that for many businesses, their first aid cover is reduced during the coronavirus outbreak, and employees simply can’t get the training they need. The following tips will help you to be compliant with health and safety regulations, despite the disruptions.
Review your First Aid Requirements
Firstly, you should review your first aid needs assessment, and decide if you can still provide the required cover for the workers who are present, and the activities they are doing. If it seems you’re not able to provide the appropriate cover, one solution may be to reduce the high-risk activities.
Share First Aiders
You could also consider sharing first aiders with another business. This will involve collaboration, with both businesses understanding what has been identified in the risk assessment of each, and ensuring that the first aiders have adequate training to fulfil these requirements.
The first aiders need to be familiar with both environments, and must of course be able to access both sites in a timely manner. Sharing first aiders amongst more than 2 businesses is possible – as long as all of the above is considered.
Extension on First Aid Certificates
Finally, the good news for many businesses is that the HSE has granted an extension on some first aid certificates which expire on or after 16 March 2020, where companies cannot access requalification training because of the pandemic.
If this is the situation you find yourself in, you may therefore qualify for a 3-month extension. This applies to both First Aid at Work and Emergency First Aid at Work certificates. For further information see: https://www.hse.gov.uk/news/first-aid-certificate-coronavirus.htm
Virtual Learning
The current situation has meant that we are forced to consider delivering training in a virtual environment. Platforms which allow us to do this are evolving as we speak, and KH First Aid Training are now delivering a variety of blended courses.
This means that we can offer vital first aid and manual handling training, from the comfort of your office or home, with the practical element being delivered on-site at a later date, if need be.
For further information, contact karen@khfirstaidtraining.co.uk