• Safety Basics

  July 31, 2017

Occupational First Aid

In each workplace, employers must provide the necessary equipment, supplies, facilities, first-aid attendants and services in order to treat injured workers and ensure they are transported to a medical centre.

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In each workplace, employers must provide the necessary equipment, supplies, facilities, first-aid attendants and services in order to treat injured workers and ensure they are transported to a medical centre.

BASIC REQUIREMENTS

As an employer, you must conduct an annual risk assessment of your worksite to determine its ability to meet basic first-aid requirements. The assessment process must be repeated whenever a significant change affecting the assessment occurs in the employer’s operations. In this respect, the employer must consider:

(a) the number of workers who may require first aid at any time;

(b) the nature and extent of the risks and hazards in the workplace, including whether or not the workplace as a whole creates a low risk of injury;

(c) the types of injuries likely to occur;

(d) any barriers to first aid being provided to an injured worker; and

(e) the time that may be required to transport an injured worker to medical treatment.

FIRST-AID ATTENDANTS

The employer must ensure that a person is designated as a first-aid attendant. Each attendant must

(a) be at least 16 years old;

(b) have successfully completed the first-aid training course or first-aid examination developed or approved by WorkSafeBC;

(c) have a first-aid certificate in good standing at the required level issued by WorkSafeBC or a person recognized by WorkSafeBC; and

(d) be physically and mentally capable of safely and effectively performing the required duties.

The first-aid attendant is responsible, and has full authority, for all first-aid treatment of an injured worker until responsibility for treatment is accepted at a medical facility, by an ambulance service or by a person with higher or equivalent first-aid certification. However, a first-aid attendant does not have authority to overrule a worker’s decision to seek medical treatment or the worker’s choice of medical treatment.

In the event of a workplace accident or injury, the first-aid attendant must:

(a) promptly provide injured workers with a level of care within the scope of the attendant’s training;

(b) objectively record any signs and symptoms of injuries and exposures to contaminants, either personally observed or reported by others; and

(c) refer for medical treatment workers with injuries considered by the first-aid attendant as being serious or beyond the scope of the attendant’s training.

FIRST-AID PROCEDURES

The employer must keep up-to-date written procedures for providing first aid at the worksite, including:

(a) the equipment, supplies, facilities, first aid attendants and services available;

(b) the location of, and how to call for, first aid;

(c) how the first-aid attendant is to respond to a call for first aid;

(d) the authority of the first-aid attendant over the treatment of injured workers and the responsibility of the employer to report injuries to WorkSafeBC;

(e) who is to call for transportation for the injured worker, and the method of transportation and calling; and

(f) pre-arranged routes in and out of the workplace and to medical treatment.

The employer must post the first-aid procedures conspicuously in suitable locations throughout the workplace. If posting is not practicable, the employer must adopt other measures to ensure that the information is effectively communicated to workers.

FIRST-AID RECORDS

The employer must maintain at the workplace, in a form acceptable to WorkSafeBC, a record of all injuries and exposures to contaminants covered by this regulation that are reported or treated. Such records must be secured in a confidential fashion and maintained for at least three years.

Information provided by HARRIS & COMPANY. For more information about HARRIS & COMPANY, please visit harrisco.com.