First aid in a dental practice: HSE sets no number, so count the hours each trained person covers

A practice manager is asked at an inspection, "how many first-aiders do you have, and who covers on Fridays?" The answer is usually a name on a poster. HSE does not give a number, so the question is not "how many" but "when is nobody there". This guide counts it for an example rota.

The rule on HSE's page

"As a minimum, you must have" a suitably stocked first-aid kit, an appointed person to take charge of first-aid arrangements, and information for all employees about those arrangements. Provision must be "adequate and appropriate in the circumstances", and HSE says it "cannot tell you what provision you should make". The page gives no table of first-aiders by size; it says there are "no hard and fast rules on exact numbers". Things to weigh are the work, the hazards, the size of the workforce, work patterns, absences of first-aiders, and accident history, including members of the public.

The appointed person needs no formal training and calls the emergency services when needed. A trained first-aider holds First Aid at Work or Emergency First Aid at Work, or another level the assessment calls for. Since 1 October 2013 HSE has not approved training providers, so the employer must check that its chosen provider is competent.

Counting the cover

The practice is open 08:00 to 18:00 Monday to Friday, which is 50 hours. First-aider A works Monday to Thursday 08:00 to 17:00. First-aider B works Tuesday to Friday 09:00 to 18:00.

That is 48 of 50 hours, or 96%. Our own measure, not a legal threshold. If A is on a week's leave, B alone covers 36 hours (Tuesday to Friday, 9 each), which is 72%, and the appointed person is the only cover for the rest. Add a third trained person or move one start time and the gaps close.

Why the hours matter more than the headcount

A headcount of two sounds adequate on a poster. The rota shows that on one day each week only one of them is in, and that a single week of leave leaves a quarter of the opening hours with only the appointed person. An inspector or an insurer asking about cover is asking about hours, so the table is the document to keep with the assessment.

What the assessment should record

• The rota, by hour, not the headcount.
• Who the appointed person is on the days with no trained person, and that they know the kit is in the cupboard.
• Certificate expiry dates, with a booking made before they lapse.
• The accident book, which HSE says is needed under social security law for more than 10 employees, kept confidentially.

Injuries that need reporting are another matter: see the practice's duties after a sharps injury, and how the complaints procedure treats an incident that becomes a complaint.

I did not read HSE's pages on first-aid rooms, mental health training or the legislation itself, so read them before you write your own policy.

Overlyft builds AI staff who join your practice team and keep the cover table up to date from the rota and the leave calendar, warn the manager when a gap opens or a certificate is about to lapse, and leave the decision with you.

This is general information, not health and safety advice. Check HSE's guidance and your own risk assessment.