Focus on First Aid

First aid cover in the workplace is essential. Employers must provide adequate and appropriate equipment, facilities and personnel in order to provide first aid to employees if they should have an accident or fall ill. A risk assessment will determine what is adequate. This will vary from company to company and will be dependent on the size of the business, the hazards likely to be encountered and the spread of workforce within a building, across a site or in various locations.

First aid facilities

All companies must make arrangements for first aid in the workplace. If you are an employer you are responsible for making sure that your employees receive immediate attention if they are taken ill or 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. If the general public has access to the workplace or you are dealing with children or disabled people, adequate provisions will need to be made. Arrangements will depend on the particular circumstances in the workplace and first aid needs will need to be assessed.

As a minimum, you must have:

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

You might decide that you need a first-aider. This is someone who has been trained by an approved organisation and holds a qualification in first aid at work or emergency first aid at work. For low risk environments an Appointed Person is adequate and ensures that someone is familiar with the procedures and can ensure that medical attention is summoned quickly if required.

* Anyone who has looked in a standard first aid kit at work will have pondered the need for numerous triangular bandages and field dressings. New guidance was published at the end of June which lists equipment more suited to today’s working environment. Click here for a list of the new standard requirements for first aid kits.

Record Keeping

It is good practice to record all accidents and near misses in an accident book. Under the Reporting of Injuries, Diseases and Dangerous Occurrences Regulations (RIDDOR) certain injuries, incidents and cases of work-related disease must be reported to the HSE. The current reporting period for injuries resulting in time off work may change next year following the Government’s Common Sense, Common Safety review. At the moment the reporting period is three days.

Keeping records will help identify patterns of accidents and injuries, and will help when completing your risk assessment. Insurance companies may also want to see records if there is a work-related claim. Once completed, documentation should remain confidential.

Click here to obtain the HSE’s copy of A Short Guide for Managers – Health, Safety and Welfare. If you would like some advice on how to ensure that you are complying with the law, just drop us an email on info@ssfb.co.uk or call 0333 321 0131.

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The Leader of the Pack

ISO9004:2009 is the guidance document for ISO9001. It explains the paragraphs of the standard in reasonably plain English and takes the implementation of the standard beyond compliance. It’s not only an important standard for anyone implementing the ISO9001 quality standard, it also provides some really useful guidance for anyone who just wants to look at their business with fresh eyes and improve performance.

The standard defines eight key quality management principles that are fundamental to the success of any business:

  • Customer focus
  • Leadership
  • Involvement of people
  • Process approach
  • System approach to management
  • Continual improvement
  • Decision making based on facts
  • Mutually beneficial supplier relationships

Each month we take one of the principles and look at the key benefits and how they can be applied in any business.

Principle 2 – Leadership

The leaders in an organisation establish unity of purpose and direction. They are key to the success of the company, because it is their values that define the culture. They should also create and maintain an environment in which people can become fully involved in achieving the organisations’ objectives.

Applying the ISO9004 principles of leadership should lead to:

  • Considering the needs of all interested parties including customers, owners, employees, suppliers, financiers, local communities and society as a whole.
  • Establishing a clear vision of the organisation’s future.
  • Setting challenging goals and targets.
  • Creating and sustaining shared values, fairness and ethical role models at all levels of the organisation.
  • Establishing trust and eliminating fear.
  • Providing people with the required resources, training and freedom to act with responsibility and accountability.
  • Inspiring, encouraging and recognising people’s contributions.

Key benefits:

  • People will understand and be motivated towards the organisation’s goals and objectives.
  • Activities are evaluated, aligned and implemented in a unified way.
  • Miscommunication between levels of an organisation will be minimised.

To find out more about the principles of good quality management and how it can help your business drop us an email on info@ssfb.co.uk or call 0333 321 0131.

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