The Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) recently issued a best practices guide, Fundamentals of a Workplace First-Aid Program.  Workplace first-aid programs are integral components of any comprehensive safety and health management system designed to comply with the Occupational Safety and Health Act (OSH Act).  The guide is designed to assist employers in developing effective workplace first-aid programs, which are mandatory under certain circumstances.

            The OSHA guide does not create any new legal obligations, nor does it change any existing standards or regulations, but it does provide a good summary of what OSHA believes are the basic elements of a workplace first-aid program.  Those elements include: 1) identifying and assessing workplace risks; 2) designing and implementing a first-aid program that addresses worksite-specific risks and that complies with OSHA first-aid requirements; 3) instructing all workers about the program, including what to do if a co-worker is injured or becomes ill; and 4) evaluating and modifying the program to keep it current and applicable to emerging workplace risks, including regular assessments of the adequacy of first-aid training.  Program policies and procedures should be communicated in writing and account for language barriers.

            The guide, which can be found at http://www.osha.gov, also contains recommendations for first-aid training programs, which should include generalized instruction, hazard-specific instruction based on the particular worksite, and automated external defibrillator (AED) training.  The program should provide a means for assessing the successful completion of any training and provide for periodic retraining and periodic program review.

         For more information, please contact the author at reynolds@elarbeethompson.com.