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Employers are required by law to provide adequate first-aid equipment and qualified personnel in order to ensure that any employees who fall ill or have an accident while at work are able to receive effective and immediate treatment.
Once an employee has successfully completed a first-aid at work course, he or she is then qualified to act as a first-aider for three years. Once this time period has lapsed, they must then take the assessment again.
Although it is not mandatory, the Health and Safety Executive also recommend that first-aiders take an annual first aid training refresher course. As this is not an obligation, many employers may wonder why it is important to undertake this training.
A refresher course can be a valuable opportunity, however, for employees to revise and revisit skills they learned on the original course. This could be particularly important if a first-aider has not had cause to deal with an accident or illness in the twelve preceding months.
Confidence can be restored, ensuring that a first-aider is ready to act immediately if a situation occurs. The training also offers an opportunity to cover any changes to best practice or to the legislation covering first-aid.