Have you already looked at the first aid guidance on the HSE website, which shows how to carry out an assessment of your first aid needs?

Hi, Thanks for the replies. Yes the problem we have at the moment is it is the largest project we have ever undertaken on site with over 2000 employee's. We have a site nurse and an emergency response team consisting of 6 members who are already trained in first aid with a site nurse who works days only. I have looked at the guidance but there is no concrete number for how many. I do need to amend the procedure etc, just any advice or experience implementing this with a large growth in work force in such a small space of time. My first thoughts are that we require more to be trained due to the nature of the work being undertaken. (Heavy Construction)

You will find the information you are looking for in INDG214, published by the HSE. Table 2 at the back of the document gives the suggested numbers :- http://www.hse.gov.uk/pubns/indg214.pdf

Hi After reading indg214.pdf and deciding how many first aiders you need remember to include your ERT and the Nurse in the review, my point being a basic first aid kit isn’t going to do much for a major injury in heavy construction, a small cut can wait to be cleaned and inspected by the Nurse and the correct action taken subsequently. You have an ERT so I assume they bring the kit with them, if not would additional equipment locations such as Stretcher, hearstart, gotcha rescue kit, radios and crash bag be more useful. Another issue is if you do increase first aid kits then a nominated person should check them regularly if you have 50 FAK’s dotted all over the place and expect them to be checked weekly by the Nurse means the Nurse would be away most of the time checking instead of being at her station. Possible solutions delegate foreman. Remember Eye wash stations require to be checked as well looking for cloudy water or broken seals to be replaced. Emergency showers and Legionella management Ensuring good communication Radios, panic buttons, fire alarms, phones and a dedicated numbers reduce the response time of the ERT and other emergency services. Training on good communication can ensure the correct and rapid response, Inductions or ERT training could include when reporting a medical incident use the mnemonic MIST M= Mechanism of injury I= Injury sustained S= Signs and Symptoms T= Treatment done so far. This could be displayed on flash cards or by call points. Document all your findings even if it won’t be used in the final document as this will help you review in the future say in 3 months 6 months 2 years. I hope this helps and ask if you need anything.