First Aid - Six hours of practice Legislative Interpretations

8(7) An employer shall ensure that a first aid provider has a minimum of 6 hours practice on first aid skills each year during which he or she holds a valid certificate.

Question
My employer has designated me as a first aid provider for my workplace. Subsection 8(7) of the First Aid Regulation requires that I receive six hours of practice on first aid skills each year during the period I hold a valid certificate. What does six hours of practice mean?

Response
The intent of this provision is to ensure that first aid providers maintain their skills during the three-year certification period. This can be accomplished by:

1. Providing first aid treatment to injured employees in your workplace totaling at least 6 hours of treatment time in a given year. Your first aid logbook should be able to demonstrate that you have provided first aid treatment equal to or greater than six hours of treatment time.
2. Reviewing the first aid manual and simulating different first aid treatments on “volunteers” for at least six hours duration in a given year. Written confirmation from your employer will be required to demonstrate that you have taken measures to maintain your first aid skills.
3. Attending a six-hour refresher course provided by an approved first aid training agency; or
4. A combination of options 1-3, provided sufficient and appropriate documentation is made available to an health and safety officer upon request.

Whether the practice is logged treatment, a review or a refresher course, it needs to occur every 12 months. The 12-month period starts the day after the completion of the course.

Therefore at the end of the first year, six hours of practice needs to be accomplished. At the end of the second year, six hours of practice needs to be completed. At the end of the third year, the first aid provider needs to take the Workplace Standard First Aid Course again. In doing so they will have complied with the six-hour practice requirement, therefore no additional practice needs to be completed. Looking at it over several years:

Year 1 – Course
Year 2 – Practice
Year 3 – Practice
Year 4 – Course
Year 5 – Practice
Year 6 – Practice
Year 7 – Course and so on