First Aid Policy

Policy statement

St Catharine’s College is required by law to provide adequate and appropriate equipment, facilities and personnel to enable first aid to be given to employees if they are injured or become ill at work. The policy sets out the objectives and arrangements for first aid provision in accordance with the relevant legislation:

• The Health and Safety (First Aid) Regulations 1981

• Health and Safety at Work etc. Act 1974 

• Management of Health and Safety at Work Regulations 1999 

Aims & objectives

The aims and objectives of this policy are to:

• Note the relevant legislation and define what is meant by first aid.

• Set out the number of first aiders we aim to have (at least the minimum defined by legislation), the roles that we consider requiring first aid training and the opportunity for other staff to receive a lower level of first aid training.

• List the first aid equipment maintained by College, along with its location.

• Detail a robust framework to be able to respond to incidents that require first aid treatment.

Scope

The policy applies to all employees of the College and individuals who are not direct employees but who undertake duties on behalf of the College, on College property.

Although there is no strict requirement to provide first aid to anyone other than employees, the College makes provision for the benefit of its students and visitors in defining the number of first aiders and a framework to be able to respond to incidents that require first aid treatment.

Definitions

First Aid

First aid is the immediate temporary care for the ill and injured with the intention of preserving life, preventing an injured or ill person’s condition from worsening, and supporting the patient emotionally. This may include treating minor injuries or taking charge where an injury or illness requires further treatment by a medical professional until the patient can be taken to hospital.

First Aider

Has attended a recognised training course on First Aid at Work and/or, provided they can demonstrate current knowledge and skills in first aid, the training and experience of the following qualify them to administer first aid in the workplace without the needs for training: Doctors registered and licensed with the General Medical Council, Nurses registered with the Nursing and Midwifery Council, Paramedics registered with the Health and Care Professions Council.

Appointed Person

Where the assessment of first-aid need identifies that a first aider is not required, the minimum requirement is to appoint a person to take charge of the first-aid arrangements, including looking after the equipment and facilities, and calling the emergency services when required. Arrangements should be made for an appointed person to be available to undertake these duties at all times when people are at work. To fulfil their role, appointed persons do not need first-aid training, though they may benefit from completion of a First Aid at Work course (or another suitable alternative). Appointed persons must not give first 
aid unless trained to do so.

Roles and Responsibilities

Governing Body and General Estates Committee

This policy sits under the remit of the College General Estates Committee, which report to the Governing Body.

Health, Safety and Compliance Adviser and Community Health Practitioner 

The policy is prepared and monitored by the College Health, Safety and Compliance Adviser in consultation with the College Community Health Practitioner.

Managers

Managers should support the implementation of the First Aid Policy within their areas of responsibility. In particular they must: 

• Ensure that they and their teams understand where to find trained first aiders in the event a person becomes ill or is injured whilst at work.
  Inform all employees of the location of first aid facilities.
• Display all first aid notices in prominent positions, ensuring that the location of equipment and details of the designated first aiders or appointed person are identified. 
• Ensure that where the need to have a First Aider in their department has been identified, that nominated staff are sent on an appropriate First Aid at Work Course and that, suitable and sufficient time is given to allow First Aiders to update and maintain their knowledge and skills. 
• Notify the Health, Safety and Compliance advisor when trained first aiders are due to leave and ensure their replacement is trained during their probationary period (in line with the designated roles set out in this policy),
• Ensure any incidents requiring first aid treatment are reported to the Health, Safety and Compliance Advisor via the incident reporting form.

First Aiders 

First aiders have a duty to and must: 

• Undertake to assess and treat any person they are required to whilst at work. However, they must ensure that this does not put them at risk and there is no potential danger to the health of others whilst attending to a casualty. 
• Ensure that all incidents of assessment and or treatment have been recorded through the incident reporting process. 
• First Aid at Work certificates last for three years. It is the responsibility of the First Aider to undertake a First Aid Requalification course before this certificate expires. The Deputy Head Porter will prompt attendance for requalification. 

Emergency First Aiders

In line with the first aid risk assessment, it is proposed that we have a small number of staff trained in emergency first aid and that requests can be made by Heads of Department for additional staff to undertake emergency first aid training. Requests should be made to the Health, Safety and Compliance adviser who will seek approval from the Operations Director. 

Emergency First Aiders will receive Emergency First Aid training for specific situations and may be assigned specific duties in relation to First Aid arrangements. It is the responsibility of the Emergency First Aider to undertake an Emergency First Aid Refresher course every three years. Emergency First Aiders are intended to supplement first aid cover in specific work environments of the College.

Required Number of First Aid Personnel

First Aid Personnel Numbers

There is no definitive ratio of First Aiders to employees due to varying factors within any organisation. Nature of work, location of buildings, working hours and distance from external medical services combined with staff numbers all contribute relevant factors that need to be considered when deciding First Aid cover. Although there is no obligation on employers to take account of persons who are not their employees, the College also makes provisions for students who are attending courses of study and visitors to our sites where possible.

Guidance for First Aid Personnel Numbers
The guidance table below, produced by the Health and Safety Executive, gives a starting point to work from when deciding what cover is needed.

Based on our first aid risk assessment, we consider that we require a combination of first aid trained and emergency first aid trained staff to reflect:

• our number of employees
• the types of activity undertaken by our employees
• the locations in which our employees work and their proximity to colleagues that could provide first aid support
• the number of students and visitors using our premises.

The majority of our employees work on the Island Site, with a number also working at off-site properties. Whilst College is generally a low hazard environment, compared with other industries there are a number of tasks that some employees undertake that are considered higher hazard. 

Students and visitors will generally only be associated with lower hazard environments, and external first aiders will be employed if students’ events suggest a higher hazard.

On this basis College proposes that we will generally have 3 trained first aiders on duty during core working hours – our Porters will generally be the primary point of first aid with a number of other roles including training to provide additional cover. 

First Aiders by Job Role

All First Aiders are defined by job role, rather than naming individuals, to enable first aid training to be stipulated in job descriptions and cover to be maintained when personnel leave the organisation. The identified roles that require First Aid Training are:

First Aid at Work.
• Porters

• FOH Supervisors

• House Keeping Supervisors

• Health & Safety Advisor

• Community Health Practitioner

Emergency First Aid at Work.
• Groundsmen

• Boathouse Manager

• Head Chef

A list of current first aiders can be found on the College’s shared file drive or the College’s website. This will be kept up to date by the Deputy Head Porter and monitored by the Health & Safety Advisor.

Where required, additional first aid, including emergency first aid training is available.

Requests should be made to the college Health, Safety and Compliance adviser.

Provision of First Aid support to members of the Community 

Where the college has non-core activities happening on its premises, the use of external First Aid providers will be used. Such activities may include but not limited to, Student events and Alumni events. External hirers running events on college grounds will be required to supply their own first aid cover either through their own staff or using a third-party provider.

First Aid Equipment

First Aid Boxes

The college has several first aid boxes located across its sites. These can be found in the locations below. A detailed list of these locations can be found on the college website.

• Porters’ Lodge – Main Site
• Porters’ Lodge - St Chad’s
• Bull Offices – 1st Floor Staff Gyp Room
• St Chad’s Staff Room 
• Library
• Sports Ground Pavilion
• Maintenance Room 
• Boat House
• Carpenter’s Workshop
• South Green Lodge 
• Main Site Catering Kitchen
• Russell Street
• Buttery 
• Paint store
• Barton Road Head Housekeeper’s Office
• Maintenance Van

The Porters Team are tasked with the restocking of all first aid boxes across the college. All boxes have a check list with them that details what needs to be present at all times. First aiders or anyone that uses items from a first aid box, must notify the Porter’s team when items are used so they can be replaced as soon as possible. Boxes will be checked as part of the Porter’s weekly walk rounds. These checks will be logged and monitored by the college’s Health, Safety and Compliance Adviser. First aid supplies will be purchased and stored by the College’s Community Health Practitioner. All Porters have full access to this storage to restock boxes when needed. First Aid boxes will be either large, medium or small variants as standard with specific boxes being tailored to certain work environments.

Defibrillators

The College has installed 3 Automated External Defibrillators (AED) within its buildings located at:

• Porter’s Lodge – Main Site

• Dining Hall Main Entrance

• Sports Ground Pavilion

All AEDs will be checked weekly to insure they are functioning and are complete with all accessories. This is to be completed by the Porters as part of their weekly checks.

AEDs are designed to be used safely by anyone without specific training, though as part of their training, all First Aiders receive instruction on how to use an AEDs.

Responding to an Incident requiring First Aid 

When there is an incident involving injury or ill health on college premises, an individual should immediately call or send for a First Aider. When the First Aider arrives at the scene, they will assess whether emergency help is required and should ask for assistance from bystanders. In most circumstances the First Aider (or bystander, depending on the circumstances) should make the call direct to the Emergency Services via 999 to ensure the best communication between the Emergency Services and the First Aider.

When it has been confirmed that an ambulance is en route, the First Aider or bystander should inform the Porter’s Lodge in person or by phone on 01223 (3)38300. Where there are multiple buildings on one site, the Porter or bystander will meet the Ambulance Services and direct them to the correct building.

If an incident occurs at an off-site location and a first aider, or emergency first aider is not in the vicinity to make an assessment an individual should still contact a First Aider and ensure College is informed of the incident via the Porters Lodge, but may make the decision to call the Emergency Services via 999 as their first action.

Reporting of Incidents

A First Aider or Emergency First Aider must submit a report of the incident to the Health & Safety Compliance Advisor using the accident form which can be found on the college website. These will be reviewed, and further action may be needed to reduce the risk of the incident reoccurring.