How to Do a First Aid Needs Assessment (With Example)

A first aid needs assessment is how an employer decides what first aid cover is adequate and appropriate for their workplace, which is the test set by the Health and Safety (First Aid) Regulations 1981. In practice it takes an hour: look at your hazards, your headcount, how and when people work, and how far you are from help, then decide how many first aiders you need, what level of training, and what equipment. Write it down, and review it when things change.

Here is the step-by-step version, followed by a worked example.

Step 1: Identify your hazards

Start with what could realistically go wrong. An office's main risks are slips and trips, minor cuts, and sudden illness such as fainting, a seizure or a cardiac arrest. Kitchens add burns and knife injuries; warehouses add manual handling, vehicles and falls from height; construction adds most of the above plus serious trauma. Your general risk assessment is the best starting point, and your accident book shows what has actually happened.

Step 2: Count your people, including the ones you forget

Count the maximum number of people on site at once, not the payroll figure. Include contractors, and consider visitors and members of the public: the law does not oblige you to provide first aid for them, but HSE strongly recommends including them in your planning.

Step 3: Map when and where people work

Shifts, early starts, weekends, split sites and multiple floors all matter. A first aider on the ground floor from nine to five does not cover a third-floor team working until eight. Hybrid working is the modern trap: a floor that looks covered on paper can have no first aider in on a Friday.

Step 4: Plan for absence

First aiders go on holiday, fall ill, and leave. HSE guidance expects cover to continue when they are away, which usually means training at least one more person than the minimum.

Step 5: Consider your location

How long would an ambulance take to reach you, and to reach the exact spot inside your building? Remote sites, large campuses and upper floors of busy buildings all argue for more first aiders and, often, a defibrillator.

Step 6: Decide numbers and training level

HSE's suggested starting points are a useful sense check (see how many first aiders you need). Lower-risk workplaces generally train first aiders in the one-day Emergency First Aid at Work (EFAW) course; higher-risk workplaces generally need the three-day First Aid at Work (FAW) qualification.

Step 7: Decide equipment

At minimum, a stocked first aid kit sized to your workforce (see what a workplace kit should contain). Add eye wash, travel kits or an AED where your assessment points to them.

Step 8: Record it and tell people

Write down what you decided and why, name your first aiders and kit locations, and tell staff how to get help. A one-page record is enough for most small and medium workplaces.

Worked example: a London office

A 60-person office over two floors in central London, open 8am to 7pm, with around 70 per cent office attendance on a typical day.

• Hazards: low (office work, a small kitchen). Main risks: slips, minor cuts and burns, sudden illness.
• People: up to 45 on site at once, plus occasional visitors.
• Patterns: two floors; early and late workers; Fridays quieter.
• Absence: allow for holidays and the Friday dip.
• Location: central London, but upper floors add minutes before paramedics reach a casualty.
• Decision: four EFAW-trained first aiders, two per floor, spread across early and late starters; one stocked kit per floor; the nearest public-access defibrillator mapped and recorded, with an in-office AED considered at the next review.
• Record: a one-page note of the above, first aider names and floors, kit locations, and a review date twelve months ahead.

Four first aiders in one on-site EFAW day covers this office, with room to add a fifth if headcount grows.

Turn the assessment into cover

Once you know your numbers, the training is the easy part. We deliver EFAW (£550 per session) and FAW (£1,500 per session) on site at your premises for up to 12 staff, with no VAT to add and nothing to pay to book.

This article is general guidance, not legal advice or a substitute for your own assessment. Request a free quote and we will confirm within 24 hours.