How long is a first aid at work certificate valid?

Employers in Great Britain must provide enough suitable people to give first aid, and a person only counts as suitable if they have training and qualifications appropriate to the workplace. How many first-aiders you need, and whether FAW or EFAW is the right level, comes from your own first-aid needs assessment. Doctors registered with the GMC, nurses registered with the NMC and paramedics registered with the HCPC can act as workplace first-aiders without an FAW or EFAW certificate, provided they can show current first-aid knowledge and skills.

• From the day after the expiry date, the person is no longer considered competent to act as a first-aider in the workplace. They should come off your first-aider list until they requalify.
• If that leaves you short of the cover your needs assessment calls for, you may not be meeting the Health and Safety (First-Aid) Regulations 1981.
• HSE says breaches are dealt with proportionately. Enforcement can include notices or, where the circumstances warrant it, prosecution.
• A lapsed FAW holder can still take the two-day requalification course at any time. HSE suggests the full three-day FAW course may be more prudent if more than about a month has passed since expiry.

1. 1

   Check what cover you need now

   Re-read your first-aid needs assessment before booking. Staff numbers, shifts, sites or hazards may have changed since the last certificate was issued.

2. 2

   Book the right requalification course

   FAW requalification lasts two days and covers the same content as the initial FAW course. EFAW requalification has the same length and content as the initial EFAW course.

3. 3

   Tell the trainer about your hazards

   HSE asks employers to tell the training organisation about particular hazards so the course can be tailored, for example work in confined spaces or remote locations.

4. 4

   Check the new certificate

   It should show the training organisation, qualification, the person’s name, a three-year validity period from course completion, and that it was issued for the purposes of the First-Aid Regulations.

5. 5

   Plan the annual refresher

   HSE strongly recommends a refresher each year of the three-year period. It is not mandatory, but it keeps skills from fading between courses.

A simple reminder plan: 90 days, 60 days, 30 days, 7 days before the expiry date. The calculator above puts these in your calendar.

• A copy of each first-aider’s current certificate, with the expiry date recorded in your tracker.
• Your first-aid needs assessment and the date you last reviewed it.
• Records of annual refresher sessions, if you run them.
• A current list of named first-aiders, posted where staff can find it.

• Counting three years from the booking or payment date instead of the course completion date on the certificate.
• Leaving a first-aider on the notice board after their certificate has expired.
• Booking the short requalification course months after expiry when the full course would be the safer choice.
• Not re-checking cover when a first-aider leaves or changes shift.