Latest News

Below is all of our news and events:-

Are You Meeting Your Legal Obligations Regarding First Aid Provisions In Your Workplace?

You may be aware that following a recent government review, changes are taking place to remove the direct approval of First Aid training providers by the Health & Safety Executive (HSE). This significant change is expected to happen in October 2015, subject to final HSE Board & Ministerial approval.

What Does This Mean For Employers?

When the proposed changes take effect, the responsibility of ensuring the quality of First Aid training will move to you, the employer! Draft guidance published by the HSE covers six pages of due diligence (reasonable investigation) that an employer should undertake, if they choose, unregulated First Aid training. This includes checks on the competency of trainers, internal quality assurers and more.

Now Here’s The Good News!

If your first aiders has undertake a regulated qualification accredited by ofqual or a sqa recognised awarding orginations the guidance is clear you do not have to any of this lengthy due diligence process. logos on their certificates, the HSE inspectors will accept this for the purposes of the First Aid regulations. No due diligence evidence is required by the employer!!!

Crystal Clear 1st Aid Training has been proactive in addressing these changes. We are already registered with an Ofqual recognised awarding organisation in First Aid. You therefore can be confident that you will meet your legal requirements if you use our services.

Update From HSE eBulletin – The Importance of Annual Refresher Training of First Aiders

HSE in our guidance strongly recommends employers ensure their First Aiders receive annual refresher training. These courses are of very short duration i.e less than half a day. The reason for refreshing these skills annually is that it helps maintain their competency until they re-qualify. So as an employer if you wish to minimise this risk and maintain your First Aiders competency consider introducing annual refresher training if you haven’t done so already.

New Paediatric Changes

New Paediatric First Aid Guidance – Pre-schools, Nurseries and Millie’s Mark. Following recent announcements, we are delighted to provide you with some further information about the changes to paediatric first aid training in early years environments and the upcoming launch of Millie’s Mark. As you may be aware, under current legislation pre-schools and nurseries in England are only required to have one fully qualified paediatric first aider available on the premises whilst children are present. However, in an unprecedented review of the standards, September 2016 will see the regulations finally amended. Under the new regulations, which are due to be included in the Early Years Foundation Stage (EYFS) guidance from 1st September 2016, all newly qualified staff possessing a Level 2 or 3 childcare qualification must also hold an emergency paediatric first aid or a full paediatric first aid certificate in order to be included in the required staff to child ratios in an early years setting. Dan and Joanne Thompson of Millie’s Trust have been campaigning for the change since the tragic death of their daughter Millie Thompson, who passed away in a choking incident whilst at nursery in 2012. Their heart-felt campaign rapidly gained public support, with over 103,000 people signing their e-petition! In addition, soon early years care providers in England who have 100% of their staff trained in paediatric first aid will be able to apply for ‘Millie’s Mark’, a brand new kitemark style scheme that is set to be a sign of exceptional paediatric first aid cover. Developed in conjunction with the Department for Education (DfE) and the National Day Nurseries Association (NDNA), Millie’s Mark will help to give parents assurance that every staff member that cares for their child is trained in vital paediatric life-saving skills. These two new changes are set to add an additional 15,000 paediatric first aiders to pre-schools and nurseries each year, a fantastic outcome that is sure to improve the standard of child care.

New Legislation – ‘Spare’ Emergency Auto – Injectors In Schools

New legislation has now been passed, that allows for ‘Spare’ Emergency Adrenaline Auto-Injectors in Schools, Pre-schools and Nurseries. It comes into effect on 1st October 2017. For further information, please refer to the Department Of Health website. Guidance on the Use of Adrenaline Auto-Injectors in Schools.

(https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/645476/Adrenaline_auto_injectors_in_schools.pdf.)

New Course Level 3 Paediatric First Aid & Level 3 First Aid At Work (Combined Course).

New Course Level 3 Paediatric First Aid & Level 3 First Aid At Work (Combined Course). This combined course is ideal for those working in schools, nurseries pre-school, play centres, youth groups and sports centres where both First Aid At Work and Paediatric First Aiders are required. Benefits of the course:- reducing training to 3 days instead of 5 days to gain both these qualifications and the combined course is cheaper than the 2 individual courses. This is only available as a group booking, at a cost £195.00 + VAT per person.

Mental Health First Aid In The Workplace (RQF)

Employers have a legal duty of care to ensure that employees are provided with a safe working environment and must take reasonable care to prevent personal injury (including mental or physical harm) that may arise in the workplace.

Stress, anxiety and depression are the biggest cause of sickness absence in our society. In the UK over half a million workers suffer from mental-health related conditions (this equates to more than one in seven employees). 12.5 million Working days were lost in 2016/17 as a result. In fact, some 12.7% of all sickness absence days can be attributed to mental health conditions.

Providing better mental health support in the workplaces can save UK businesses up to £8 billion per year, as well as improving staff morale and helping to reduce the risk of tragedy (i.e. suicide).

By becoming more aware employers and employees will be able to recognise employees who are suffering from mental health and provide early intervention, leading to a move positive outcome for employees and the organisation reducing suffering and cost.

New Course Level 3 Paediatric First Aid & Level 3 First Aid At Work (Combined Course). This combined course is ideal for those working in schools, nurseries pre-school, play centres, youth groups and sports centres where both First Aid At Work and Paediatric First Aiders are required. Benefits of the course:- reducing training to 3 days instead of 5 days to gain both these qualifications and the combined course is cheaper than the 2 individual courses. These are only available as a group booking, at a cost £195.00 + VAT per person…