Posted By Shane Johnston We give our first aiders £100 per year in recognition of their willingness volunteer. After all we cannot force anyone to accept this responsibility. This seems fair. However, this has triggered a number of issues with other employees who have also "volunteered" for additional H&S responsibilities. For example, we also have a handful of employees designated as Radiation Protection Superviors, who are now questioning whether they also should receive some sort of a reward. My question is do any of your employers give reward for additional H&S responsibilities which are over and above the norm?

Posted By Ken Urquhart Shane, I currently live and work in Hong Kong so am a bit out of touch with the exact current detail on First aider and payments if any, however: In a previous life and whilst employed for many years with a UK Construction company we paid a "First Aider allownace" to our then "Operative personnel only" e.g. Those covered by Construction Industry Union agreements and the then Construction Industries National Joint Working Rule Agreement which was drawn up in joint consultation between the Employers, The Unions and the Industry Federations. Staff personnel, all volunteers, who were trained and appointed First Aiders then questioned this payment discrepancy, and the company agreed quite happily that those Staff should also be paid the same Honoratrium. (If I recall correctly it amounted originally to something like Two Pounds fifty pence per week). However the Inland Revenue then reviewed this payment or Honorarium and determined that it was a Benefit in kind and was taxable. This devalued the payment considerably. So ultimately many of the appointed First Aiders, both staff and operative personnel, carried on there First Aid function but opted to forgo the Honorarium. The consensus was, that the First Aid qualification was a Personal benefit in terms of Job Skills and in a mobile world, if that employee chose to leave our company and join a competitor or another industry for that matter they had an additional skill or added value to put on there CV and to offer there new or prospective new employer which might just be the deciding factor in which applicant got the job. Some of the Personal felt that they also as a result had skills that were of value to them in there personal/domestic lives and that the company had provided the time away from work and the training at its cost, so they the individuals had a benefit. Yes, whilst the individual remained with the orgnisation and consented to continue as a trained/regularly retrained and appointed First Aider, the company also had a benefit, (and was committed to an ongoing cost). And Yes the Company was obliged to give training and to give time of with pay for training and the personnel involved recognised this but still thought that they had done OK. Perhaps this harmonious result came out of the fact that we operated Safety committees for everybody and had open, meaningful, constructive and cooperative involvement, contribution and commitment across the board. Also from discussion through our Safety Committees the company then adopted a Policy of offering an "Emergency Aid" training to all personnel, both to staff and to operatives at site level, and many took up the opportunity to participate in this simple and yet basically valuable Life skill. This probably helped to harmonise relationships in that everybody "had" a level of First Aid skill, admittedly some greater and more formalised than others, but it also gave a balance and there wasn't the need or the opportunity for people to argue that some were better off than others and why couldn't they be the same. Did/Have all of your personnel voluntered to be trained and appointed as First Aiders just because there is a payment or Honorarium? I don't believe that they all are that mercenary. Perhaps discussing these comments with them might help, anyway I hope that the comments and the background are of some help. As I said at the begining I am operational these days in Hong Kong and as it is Chinese New Year, The Year of the Goat - I wish Forum readers a Happy, Prosperous, Healthy and Lucky New Year: "Kung Hei Fat Choi" Regards. ken Urquhart

Posted By Dave Wilson Have no idea what the previous response means but would think that if it is an extra and not part of an employees T&C of employment then renumaration is a good thing.

Posted By Raymond Rapp Shane, Surely by rewarding staff with finacial incentives for H&S duties ie first aiders, is a path to a 'slippery slope.' As you have now found out. There are also a number of legal principles with regard to payment of non vocational h&S duties to employees. Rather than go into a long discussion on the latter subject is there not another method of incentive that does not involve cash payment? Ray

Posted By Jack 'It does give you some idea how employers view the role of health and safety'. I don't think it does. The role of safety rep was never intended as a paid role; it was something that employees would do as part of their job (taking time out of normal duties to represent other employees). Paying someone £3 a week to take on the role (note not a 'responsibility') makes me think more about nuts and monkeys than an employer who takes h&s seriously.

Posted By Louise Nicholls Shane, I have worked as an RPS and did not receive payment for that duty. I did not expect to receive any payment and I did volunteer for the duty. I see it as another string to your bow, benefiting you and your employer. You gain extra knowledge and the RPS status is portable should you change jobs in the future.