First aid: More than just a bandage

Minutes count when someone is injured or becomes ill on the job. Employers can keep the situation from getting worse by providing the correct type of first aid treatment right away.

Anyone who’s been designated by the employer to provide first aid must have thorough training on how to respond to the injuries and illnesses anticipated in the workplace. Employees who aren’t designated first aiders should know how to promptly report injuries and illnesses.

Where an accident can result in suffocation, severe bleeding, or other life-threatening or permanently disabling injury or illness, OSHA expects a three- to four-minute response time from the time of injury to the time of administering first aid. If such a life-threatening or serious injury is unlikely, OSHA allows a longer response time, such as 15 minutes. The employer should obtain estimates of Emergency Medical Services (EMS) response times for all locations and for all times of the day and night that workers will be present.

Training designated first aid providers

To ensure treatment is available within these timeframes, OSHA requires employers to train persons to render first aid when there’s no nearby hospital, clinic, or infirmary that’s used to treat all injured or ill employees. First aid providers perform the initial assessment of injuries and illnesses and provide immediate care and life support before EMS professionals arrive.

OSHA recognizes any nationally accepted and medically sound first-aid training program that covers the fundamentals of first aid as meeting the requirements stated in 1910.151. Employers using first aid and/or cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) courses must ensure that the course adequately covers the types of injuries and illnesses likely to be encountered in the workplace.

Employees who are expected to render first aid as part of their job duties also must be trained under the Bloodborne Pathogens standard at 1910.1030. This standard applies to occupational exposure in general industry. Occupational exposure is defined as “reasonably anticipated skin, eye, mucous membrane, or parenteral contact with blood or other potentially infectious materials (OPIM) that may result from the performance of an employee’s duties.”

This training must be offered upon initial assignment, at least annually thereafter, and when new or modified tasks or procedures affect an employee’s occupational exposure. Training must cover all elements of the standard including, but not limited to: information on bloodborne pathogens and diseases, methods used to control occupational exposure, hepatitis B vaccine, and medical evaluation and post-exposure follow-up procedures. HIV and HBV laboratory and production facility workers must receive specialized initial training, in addition to the training provided to all workers with occupational exposure.