How Has First Aid Training Changed
It’s now 2 ½ years since the HSE took a step back from
approving First Aid at Work Training, so what effect has this had.
It goes without saying, that once you open up a possibility
there are always those who jump in trying to make a quick profit, I have seen
trainers come and go who saw this as a quick and easy way to make money.
One thing it has done is allowed a lot of small companies to
start and offer these courses at a fraction of the cost they were costing
before the change.
So how has this happen? Are there loads of new trainers out
there?
As said earlier, there has been a lot of people jump on the
bandwagon, as they have seen this as an easy income, but on top of that,
another thing that has happened is a lot of trainers have left the big organisation
to work as freelance trainers because they have worked out that by being self-employed
but freelancing for the same organisations they were working for, they can earn
more money.
So what does this mean for the end user?
Well it has become somewhat of a mine field, one thing to
check is, if you have First Aid certificates issued after the 1st
October 2013, which state HSE approved, these are not really valid as from that
date the HSE took away the approval.
One way of ensuring your First Aid certificates are fit for
purpose, is to ensure your provider is registered though an Awarding Body
regulated by Ofqual, some can be found here http://www.hse.gov.uk/firstaid/efaw.htm
although more Awarding Bodies have since registered with Ofqual
You can
use those who operate independently of any such scheme, but as the end user,
you are responsible of ensuring the training provider demonstrates their
competence by providing evidence that they meet the criteria set by HSE
The one
thing it has changed in the interest of the end user, is the price.
Prices
for training are now considerably cheaper for the end user, in some case, as
much as 50% cheaper.
So does
this mean poorer training?
As within
all walks of life, you will get the good and the bad. If you use a trainer who
is registered though an Awarding Body, they should be monitor yearly by the
Awarding Body. You also have a route to go down if you are unhappy with their training.
The main
reason that training is cheaper is there are now many little companies with
little or no overheads, delivering the courses for the bigger organisations
though freelancing, so by using the smaller companies direct, you can get some
of the best prices. But as the big organisations now have fewer full-time
employees, they too have been able to lower their prices.
So cheaper
training does not necessarily mean poorer quality
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