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Posted on Apr 24, 2015 in Business Tips

First aid arrangements for small businesses

No matter how small your business may be, if you are an employer, then you need to make sure that your employees receive immediate attention in the unfortunate case of an injury at work. If you want to prevent minor injuries from becoming major ones, then you need to make first aid arrangements for your business or better yet for your workplace. Obviously, different businesses and different workplaces have different circumstances and you should definitely factor those in when making these arrangements.  You should also consider your workforce and the various health and safety risks that might be present. If your workplace is really small and low-risk, then these arrangements can be limited to having a first aid box or kit and an appointed person to take charge, although it wouldn’t hurt to also sign that person up for some Ottawa first aid courses, even though it is not a legal requirement.

 

If your business makes use of a workplace that presents more significant safety risks, such as the use of hazardous materials or heavy equipment, then it is essential to have a trained and certified first aider. Fortunately, there are now many centres that provide Ottawa first aid courses and even CPR courses, so you won’t have any difficulty in finding one that suits your needs and schedule. In order to conduct the first aid needs assessment properly, you need to consider a series of factors, from the workplace and workforce to health and safety risks. There is plenty of information available on how to carry out such an assessment, but you can also resort to specialists in the field, if you really want to go the extra mile and make sure you’re doing everything that needs to be done. The first-aid arrangements that you’ll have to put in place depend on the outcome of this assessment, but also on the particular circumstances in the workplace.

 

Even though the first aid arrangements differ from one business to another, as mentioned and described above, there are minimum standards that all businesses should comply with and these include a suitably stocked first-aid kit, information easily accessible for all employees with regards to the details of the arrangements in place and an appointed person to manage all the arrangements and take charge of the situation, person who preferably should undergo Ottawa first aid courses. The level of training for the first-aider is also indicated by the needs assessment, but it helps significantly if they have the right certification.