HSE announcement
First aid certificate extensions
If you hold a First Aid certificate that expires on or after 16 March 2020 and cannot access requalification training because of the coronavirus, you may qualify for an extension. This applies to:
- Offshore Medic (OM)
- Offshore First Aid (OFA)
- First Aid at Work (FAW)
- Emergency First Aid at Work (EFAW)
How you qualify for the extension
To qualify for the extension, you must be able to:
- explain why you haven’t been able to requalify
- demonstrate what steps you have taken to access the training if asked to do so
Requalification training in England
The first aid training industry in England is confident that enough courses will now be available for all required requalification training to take place. HSE has therefore agreed on a final deadline for requalification for these qualifications of 30 September 2020.
Requalification training in Scotland and Wales
It is accepted that training capacity in Scotland and Wales, and for some parts of the emergency services across Great Britain, might take longer to build.
The deadline for completing requalification training in Scotland and Wales (and in relevant GB emergency services), will, therefore, be reviewed by HSE over the coming months. Employers or certificate holders should still try to arrange requalification training at the earliest opportunity.
Paediatric first aid
Following the announcement from the HSE that an extension to 30 September 2020 can be applied to FAW and EFAW certificates that expire ​on or after 16 March 2020, where first aiders cannot access requalification training due to coronavirus, the Department for Education have announced the validity of paediatric first aid certificates can also be extended to 30th September 2020. This advice is now available in two places on Gov.uk. These are in section 8.6 in the ‘Actions for early years and childcare providers during the coronavirus outbreak’ guidance, which can be found at:
and in section 6.2 of the Early Years Foundation Stage disapplication guidance published 1 June. This can be found at:
If you have questions regarding any of the above, please do not hesitate to contact us.
Kind regards,
FRFA
Tel: 01543 372888
Email: info@firstresponsefirstaid.co.uk
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