On completion, learners will be able to demonstrate an understanding of:

• The role and responsibilities of an emergency first aider
• The legal framework, including the Health and Safety (First-Aid) Regulations 1981
• Minimising the risk of cross-infection and the need for consent
• Assessing an incident and prioritising casualties
• The management of an unresponsive casualty who is breathing
• CPR and the safe use of an automated external defibrillator (AED)
• The management of a casualty who is choking
• The control of external bleeding and the management of shock
• The treatment of minor injuries and seizures
• Recording and reporting, including RIDDOR

• Starting quickly matters more than perfect technique. Survival falls sharply with every minute of delay.
• Untrained groups hesitate. People wait for somebody qualified while nothing is done.
• Defibrillators cannot shock a heart that does not need it. Fear of the machine is the main reason it is not used.
• Call handlers coach compressions. Help begins before the ambulance arrives.
• Employers must assess their first aid needs. The law sets no fixed number of first aiders.
• Practical skills require in-person assessment. Certification is not achievable online alone.

• Recognised Level 2 workplace emergency first aid qualification
• Blended delivery: online theory via the Britsafe learning management system, followed by practical training and assessment at an approved centre
• Course materials are provided digitally (soft copy) via the LMS
• Assessed by practical demonstration at the centre and by online examination via the Britsafe Examination Management System (EMS), with a minimum pass mark of 70%
• Certification issued with an anti-counterfeit hologram security seal, available both as a physical copy and as a soft (digital) copy
• Meets the recognised minimum contact time for emergency first aid at work
• Includes practical CPR and defibrillator training on manikins
• Covers the first aider’s role, limits and record keeping
• Online theory component completed flexibly before attendance

Knowledge developed:

• The first aider’s role, legal framework and needs assessment
• Scene assessment, summoning help and casualty priorities
• Cardiac arrest recognition, resuscitation and defibrillation
• Choking, bleeding, shock, seizures and minor injuries
• Hygiene, equipment, records and the limits of the role

Skills developed:

• Acting immediately rather than waiting for somebody else
• Conducting a primary survey systematically
• Delivering effective chest compressions and rescue breaths
• Placing a casualty in the recovery position
• Operating a defibrillator confidently
• Controlling bleeding and managing a choking casualty

This Award is designed for workplace first aiders, including:

• Those appointed as emergency first aiders
• Employees in workplaces where the needs assessment identifies the requirement
• Small business owners and sole traders
• Office, retail and hospitality staff
• Warehouse, production and site personnel
• Education, childcare and youth setting staff
• Care and support workers requiring workplace first aid
• Facilities, maintenance and security personnel
• Sports, leisure and fitness staff
• Event and venue personnel
• Charity and voluntary organisation members
• Those renewing an expiring emergency first aid certificate

There are no formal academic prerequisites for this Level 2 Award. It is open to learners aged 16 and above with a reasonable standard of spoken and written English, sufficient to engage with course materials and complete the assessment. Learners must be physically able to participate in the practical elements, which include kneeling and performing chest compressions on a manikin at floor level; centres should be told in advance where adjustments may be needed.

Course content is structured around progressive learning blocks covering the role and responsibilities of the first aider; the legal framework and needs assessment; scene assessment and personal safety; summoning help; the primary survey; the unresponsive casualty; the recovery position; recognition of cardiac arrest; cardiopulmonary resuscitation; compression-only CPR; automated external defibrillators; choking; control of bleeding; shock; seizures; minor injuries; head, neck and spinal injury awareness; hygiene and infection control; first aid equipment and kits; records and reporting; and the limits of the role.

Assessment has two components. Practical competencies resuscitation, defibrillator use, the recovery position, choking management and bleeding control are assessed by demonstration at the approved centre. Underpinning knowledge is assessed through an online examination via the Britsafe Examination Management System (EMS), with a minimum score of 70%. Both components must be completed successfully. On successful completion, learners receive a certificate, available both as a physical copy and as a soft (digital) copy, valid for three years.

This Level 2 Award supports appointment as a workplace emergency first aider and is relevant across:

• Any role where the employer’s needs assessment requires first aid cover
• Supervisory and team leader positions
• Facilities, security and site roles
• Education, childcare and youth work
• Sports, leisure and fitness
• Event and venue staffing
• A stepping stone toward the fuller First Aid at Work qualification

Offices and professional services

• Retail, hospitality and leisure
• Manufacturing and production
• Warehousing, logistics and transport
• Construction and site work
• Education and childcare
• Health and social care
• Facilities management and security
• Sports, fitness and outdoor activity
• Events, venues and visitor attractions
• Charities and the voluntary sector

• Provides certified emergency first aiders in line with the recognised standard
• Supports compliance with first aid provision duties
• Reduces the delay between collapse and the start of resuscitation
• Increases confidence in using workplace defibrillators
• Reduces the severity of outcomes from bleeding, choking and collapse
• Supports first aid needs assessment arrangements with trained personnel
• Provides flexible delivery, with theory completed before attendance
• Provides documented evidence of certification for audit and insurance

• A recognised, portable first aid certificate valid for three years
• Genuine practical competence assessed in person
• Flexible online theory that fits around working patterns
• Confidence to act immediately rather than wait
• Skills that apply outside work as well as within it
• A foundation for the fuller First Aid at Work qualification

Learners can apply this qualification directly to:

• Acting within seconds rather than waiting for somebody more qualified
• Checking the scene is safe before approaching a casualty
• Calling for help early and putting the phone on speaker
• Sending somebody specific to fetch the defibrillator rather than asking generally
• Starting chest compressions without hesitating over rescue breaths
• Using a defibrillator confidently and following its instructions
• Placing an unresponsive but breathing casualty into the recovery position
• Recognising and acting on choking promptly
• Applying direct pressure to control serious bleeding
• Recognising shock and managing it while awaiting help
• Managing a seizure by protecting the casualty rather than restraining them
• Recording what was found, what was done and what was reported

Learners often progress into:

• Level 3 First Aid at Work for fuller workplace first aid cover
• Paediatric first aid for those working with children
• Annual first aid refresher training
• Mental health first aid, which is a separate discipline
• Britsafe Level 1 Award in Basic First Aid Awareness for wider workforce awareness
• Britsafe Level 2 Award in Managing Safely
• Britsafe Level 2 Award in Fire Safety and Fire Warden Training

• Workplace first aider and first aid coordinator roles
• Health and safety coordinator pathways
• Event and venue medical support routes
• Supervisory and management development
• Professional membership routes with relevant safety bodies

Britsafe Qualifications UK Limited operates internationally, and the resuscitation techniques taught follow internationally agreed principles issued by recognised resuscitation bodies. Statutory first aid requirements, minimum training standards, certificate validity and approval arrangements are national, so learners working outside Great Britain should confirm the requirements applicable locally before relying on this certificate for workplace first aid provision.

1. What does this qualification cover?
It covers workplace emergency first aid: the first aider’s role, scene assessment, the primary survey, the unresponsive casualty, resuscitation and defibrillator use, choking, bleeding, shock, seizures, minor injuries, hygiene, equipment, records and the limits of the role.

2. Can this be completed entirely online?
No, and this is important before purchasing. Emergency first aid at work includes practical skills that must be taught and assessed in person chest compressions and rescue breaths on a manikin, the recovery position, choking management and bleeding control. This Award is delivered as a blended programme: theory online, followed by practical training and assessment at an approved centre. Any provider offering a fully online emergency first aid at work certificate is not meeting the recognised standard, and an employer relying on such a certificate may not have discharged its first aid duties.

3. What is the difference between this and First Aid at Work?
Emergency First Aid at Work is the shorter qualification, covering the immediate management of a casualty in an emergency. First Aid at Work is longer and covers a wider range of injuries and illnesses, including conditions such as fractures, spinal injuries, chest injuries, poisoning, anaphylaxis and medical emergencies in more depth. Which one an employer needs is determined by their first aid needs assessment, not by preference a low-hazard office may need the former, while a higher-hazard workplace generally needs the latter.

4. How many first aiders does a workplace need?
There is no fixed number in law, which surprises many employers. The requirement is to carry out a first aid needs assessment considering the hazards present, the number of employees, the layout and size of the premises, shift patterns, remoteness from emergency services, the presence of members of the public, lone workers, travelling workers and anybody with particular needs. Guidance offers suggested numbers as a starting point, and the assessment determines the answer.

5. What is an appointed person?
Where a needs assessment shows that a trained first aider is not required, the employer must still appoint somebody to take charge of first aid arrangements looking after equipment and facilities and calling the emergency services when needed. An appointed person is not a first aider and does not need first aid training, although training is sensible. Where the assessment does identify a requirement for first aiders, an appointed person is not a substitute.

6. Why does the course emphasise starting quickly?
Because delay is the main determinant of outcome in cardiac arrest. Survival falls substantially with each minute that passes without chest compressions and defibrillation, and the natural response of an untrained group is to wait to check, to discuss, to look for somebody qualified. The most valuable thing a first aider does is remove that delay by kneeling down and beginning while everybody else is still deciding what to do.

7. Are defibrillators safe for untrained people to use?
Yes, and this is one of the most useful things to understand. A defibrillator gives spoken instructions, analyses the casualty’s heart rhythm itself, and will not deliver a shock unless the rhythm requires one. It is not possible to shock somebody who does not need it by pressing the wrong button. The most common reason a defibrillator is not used is that people are afraid of it, and that fear costs lives where one is available, somebody should be sent to fetch it immediately.

8. Should I give rescue breaths?
If you are trained and willing, yes and if you are unwilling or unable, continuous chest compressions alone are far better than doing nothing. Compressions are the priority, and hesitating over the question of breaths wastes the time that matters most. Nobody should stand back from a cardiac arrest because they are reluctant to give mouth-to-mouth.

9. What happens when I call 999?
The call handler takes charge of the conversation and helps. They will establish what has happened, dispatch help, tell you where the nearest registered defibrillator is, and coach you through chest compressions in real time if needed. Putting the phone on speaker and following their instructions is standard practice. Calling early is part of the treatment, not a step to complete before starting it.

10. Where should defibrillators be, and does registration matter?
Accessible, unlocked where possible, clearly signed and known about by staff a defibrillator in a locked office nobody can enter out of hours protects nobody. Registering a defibrillator on the national database matters, because it allows ambulance call handlers to direct callers to it. An unregistered device is invisible to the person who most needs to know about it.

11. What is the primary survey?
A systematic check of the things that will kill a casualty fastest, carried out in order: danger to yourself and others, the casualty’s response, their airway, their breathing, and any catastrophic bleeding. Working through it in sequence prevents the common error of treating a visible but less serious injury while missing an obstructed airway or an absence of breathing.

12. When is the recovery position used?
For a casualty who is unresponsive but breathing normally. It keeps the airway open and allows fluids to drain, which is what prevents an unconscious person from choking on their own vomit or on their tongue. A casualty who is not breathing normally requires resuscitation instead the recovery position is for the breathing casualty.

13. What about head, neck and spinal injuries?
They are covered at awareness level within this qualification. The general principle is to avoid unnecessary movement while ensuring the airway remains open, and an open airway takes priority, because a spinal injury will not kill somebody in the next three minutes and an obstructed airway will. Detailed management of these injuries is covered more fully in First Aid at Work.

14. How is bleeding controlled?
By direct pressure over the wound, using a dressing or whatever clean material is available, maintained firmly rather than repeatedly lifted to check. Elevation may help. The casualty should be kept still, monitored for shock, and help summoned early. Severe bleeding is time-critical and pressure applied immediately is more valuable than a perfect dressing applied a minute later.

15. How should a seizure be managed?
By protecting the person rather than intervening. Move objects away, protect the head, note the time the seizure started, and do not restrain them or put anything in their mouth. When it stops, check breathing and place them in the recovery position if unresponsive. Help should be called if the seizure is prolonged, repeated, if it is their first, if they are injured, or if they do not recover as expected.

16. What hygiene precautions apply?
Gloves where available, hand washing before and after, covering your own cuts, avoiding contact with blood and body fluids, using a face shield for rescue breaths if provided, and disposing of contaminated materials correctly. Personal protection should not delay life-saving action where equipment is not immediately to hand.

17. What should be recorded?
What happened, when, who was involved, what was found, what treatment was given and what happened afterwards. Records support continuity of care, provide evidence if a claim or investigation follows, and reveal patterns worth acting on. Certain injuries and incidents also carry statutory reporting requirements, and the first aider’s record is frequently where that process starts.

18. How long is the certificate valid?
Three years. Annual refresher training is recommended in the intervening period, because practical skills particularly compression depth and rate decay measurably within months of training. Requalification should be completed before expiry.

19. Does this cover children?
Not specifically. Techniques differ for children and infants, and workplaces involving children schools, nurseries, childcare require paediatric first aid qualifications. Anybody working with children should establish which qualification their setting requires.

20. Does it include mental health first aid?
No. Mental health first aid is a separate discipline with its own training, and it is not part of emergency first aid at work.

21. What are the limits of an emergency first aider’s role?
Preserving life, preventing deterioration and promoting recovery until professional help arrives. First aiders do not diagnose, do not administer medication beyond very limited circumstances covered by their training and workplace policy, and are not expected to manage a casualty beyond the arrival of the ambulance service. Knowing where the role ends is part of doing it well.

22. Are there any entry requirements?
No formal prerequisites are required. Learners should have a reasonable standard of English and be aged 16 or above, and should be able to take part in floor-level practical work. Centres should be informed in advance where adjustments may be required.

23. What materials are provided?
Digital (soft copy) course materials via the Britsafe learning management system for the theory component, with practical training delivered at the approved centre.

24. What happens after I complete both components?
Successful learners receive a certificate from Britsafe Qualifications UK Limited, featuring an anti-counterfeit hologram seal for authenticity, available both as a physical copy and as a soft (digital) copy, valid for three years.

25. Can this qualification lead to further study?
Yes. It provides a foundation for First Aid at Work, paediatric first aid, and further health and safety qualifications.