First aid needs calculator

How first-aid provision is decided

The Health and Safety (First-Aid) Regulations 1981 require every employer to provide first-aid equipment, facilities and people that are "adequate and appropriate in the circumstances". Crucially, there are no fixed legal ratios — the law does not say "one first-aider per X workers". Instead you carry out a first-aid needs assessment, and that assessment decides what is enough. This tool walks through the same factors HSE asks you to weigh and applies the suggested figures from its guidance, so the printed result can serve as your written needs assessment.

The factors that drive provision

• Hazard level. HSE treats offices, shops and libraries as low-hazard, and construction, work with dangerous machinery and chemical manufacture as higher-hazard. Higher-hazard work points towards trained first-aiders rather than just an appointed person.
• Number of people. More people means more provision — and you assess for everyone on site, including subcontractors.
• Site spread. On a dispersed site, or one with several buildings, a first-aider has to be reachable in each area — HSE specifically says such sites usually need more personnel than the suggested numbers.
• Lone or remote working, the public, and distance to help. Lone workers need their own kit and a way to call for help; where the public are present HSE recommends including them in your provision; and where emergency care is far away you should provide more, and more highly trained, first-aiders.

Appointed persons, EFAW and FAW

An appointed person takes charge of first-aid arrangements and the kit and calls the emergency services — no first-aid training is required, and they are the minimum for a small, low-hazard workplace. A first-aider trained in Emergency First Aid at Work (EFAW) has completed a one-day course; one trained in First Aid at Work (FAW) has done the fuller three-day course and can deal with a wider range of injuries. Both qualifications last three years. For higher-hazard work such as construction, HSE's suggested figures lean towards FAW-trained first-aiders.

HSE's suggested numbers (a guide, not a rule)

HSE's leaflet First aid at work – your questions answered (INDG214) sets out suggested numbers: for higher-hazard work, at least an appointed person below five workers, at least one FAW first-aider for 5–50 workers, and one FAW first-aider per 50 workers (or part) above that. For lower-hazard work the figures step up at 25 and 50 workers. The leaflet is explicit that these are suggestions only and that you must increase provision for shift work, several buildings and to cover absences. First-aid kits are sized to BS 8599-1 by headcount and hazard, with a critical-injury kit for cutting and dangerous-machinery work and a personal-issue kit for lone workers.

Sources: Health and Safety (First-Aid) Regulations 1981 (legislation.gov.uk), HSE guidance First aid at work L74 and leaflet INDG214 (hse.gov.uk/pubns/indg214.pdf).