Are you an employee?

A summary of what your employer should be doing to cover first-aid requirements in your workplace.

What your employer needs to do

Employers are responsible for ensuring that employees receive immediate attention if they are taken ill or are injured at work. Accidents and illness can happen at any time and first aid can save lives and prevent minor injuries from becoming major ones.

Your employer is expected to have:

completed a first-aid needs assessment;
ensured that there is either an appointed person to take charge of first-aid arrangements, or there are appropriate numbers of suitably trained first-aiders;
ensured their are adequate facilities and a suitable stocked first-aid box;
provided you with information about the first-aid arrangements.

This page has some answers to specific questions regarding employees and first aid. If you have any other queries, please refer to the frequently asked questions section of the site.

First aid arrangements will depend on the particular circumstances of your workplace and these need to be assessed to identify what your first-aid needs are.

As a minimum, your employer must have:

a suitably stocked first-aid box
an appointed person to take charge of first-aid arrangements;
information for all employees giving details of first-aid arrangements.

First-aiders

If your employer has decided that your workplace requires first-aiders they must have been trained by an approved organisation and hold a qualification in first aid at work or emergency first aid at work.

More detailed information can be found in our leaflet First aid at work: Your questions answered.

Accidents and ill health

Under health and safety law, employers must report and keep a record of certain injuries, incidents and cases of work-related disease.

You can find out which ones must be reported and how to report them on our report an incident pages.

Keeping records helps employers identify patterns of accidents and injuries, and help in completing there risk assessment. Your employer’s insurance company may also want to see these records if there is a work-related claim.