Not really sure how it answers the training issue. It appears that now their is no HSE standard the "employer" is responsible for ensuring that the course provided meets fully with the needs to meet the 81 Regs. I suppose this should led to some interesting case law, as I can't believe that SMEs are in the position to scrutinize courses at this level - as folk tend to book the course under the historical assumption that the first aid course will meet the standard required as it had when the HSE oversaw this. Does anyone know if there is a BS being set up in re. to the standard for the course? B

I remain unconvinced that the list of occupational expertise to be able to deliver first aid training goes far enough within the guidance documents. It should be made clear that such a list is only as an example and some items are incorrect as the new assessor/verifier awards are known as TAQA (Training, Assessment and Quality Assurance). Certainly I will be pushing towards bespoke training that better suits the working environment based upon an assessment of the possible injuries likely and any known personal issues such as diabetes.

I'm not sure one way or the other tbh. I'd like to think that 1st aid provision is a simple thing that all SME's would consider and take/give proportionate resource to but training is another thing all together IMO. The amount of times the recovery position for example has changed in my lifetime is astonishing - obviously I understand things change but crikey - looking from a med/large size site its possible/plausible that dependant on the cycle of training, some of the 1st aiders will actually 'practise' completely different techniques to some others yet still be 'qualified'. I think I'm making sense?!

A good set of discussion points made so far and the refresher training is something that I think companies need to consider and maybe this is where the 5 day course becoming 3 days as mentioned before maybe should have had as mandatory i.e. 3 days and 2 1 day refresher courses in the 3 year period. I am a first aid instructor and have dealt with some high risk areas (non UK) in which we could alter the course syllabus to suit as the courses where in a hot and sunny place with no guidance on laws on these standards an the bespoke course suited us better; this bit in the guidacne I think is a logical step. I left that employment in June last year and in November (no training delivered in that period from June) at a Fireworks display with my children I witnessed someone collapse (we were watching from a coastline at a distance). Even after training this topic at around a session every fortnight, that break of just a few months meant I had to get my head into gear to deliver CPR; if this was longer than a year then maybe I would have been more rusty. The other point was I had to take over from a first aider on the scene who only passed their course the week before, why? because trainign someone and the actual event is a lot different. I personally think the option to have bespoke training is good but if this is accepted when it goes wrong is something else to see. However I think the guidance needs to be more in depth for smaller businesses.