How many days is first aid at work training?

The short answer is three days for the full First Aid at Work qualification, one day for Emergency First Aid at Work, and the number you need is decided by your risk assessment rather than your diary.

Aim2Aid Ltd is based in Windsor, Berkshire, with FAIB accredited first aid courses taught by in-house trainers led by Rebecca Sullivan, never outsourced, and over 50 years of combined experience behind them. If you need first aid at work or first aid at work services Milton Keynes, we cover the whole area.

Tell us your headcount and shift pattern and we will confirm the exact number of training days your workplace needs.

How many days is first aid at work training?

First Aid at Work training runs over three days, and the full FAW certificate lasts three years. The shorter Emergency First Aid at Work course is one day, about six hours, for up to 12 delegates, with the same three-year certificate. Which one your workplace needs depends on your risk assessment, not on the calendar.

The three-day FAW course and the one-day EFAW course do different jobs

Employers ask about days because they are counting staff hours off the floor. Fair enough. But the two courses are not long and short versions of the same thing. The three-day First Aid at Work course trains a first aider to deal with a wider range of injuries and illnesses: unresponsive casualties, severe bleeding, shock, burns, fractures, head injuries, spinal concerns, and a set of medical emergencies including seizures, asthma, diabetic emergencies and anaphylaxis. Three days is what it takes to teach that properly and assess it.

Emergency First Aid at Work is one day, roughly six hours, capped at 12 delegates. It covers the life-threatening basics: an unresponsive casualty, CPR, choking, bleeding, shock and minor injuries. For a low-risk office, a shop or a small site, that is often exactly the right level. For a manufacturing floor, a workshop, a care setting or a site with machinery, three days is the honest answer.

Our first aid courses are accredited by FAIB, and every one of them is delivered by our own in-house trainers. We do not outsource sessions to freelancers we have never met. Rebecca Sullivan leads that team, and between them they hold over 50 years of combined experience. If you need first aid at work or first aid at work in Reading, we cover the whole area.

Three days does not have to mean three consecutive days in a classroom

Three days is course time, not necessarily three days in a row. Most employers run the FAW course over three consecutive working days because it keeps the disruption in one block, but the days can be split to suit shift patterns and cover. Training is delivered at your own premises, so nobody is travelling, nobody is claiming mileage, and the scenarios use the actual room, stairwell, plant or vehicle your staff work around.

Blended delivery is another option. The theory is completed online in the delegate's own time, and the practical assessment happens at your venue with a trainer in the room. For Emergency First Aid at Work, blended keeps the same one day of about six hours, the same limit of 12 delegates and the same three-year certificate, so compliance is unchanged. What changes is how much of the working day you lose. Some employers take it, some prefer everything face to face. Both are valid.

Whether you need first aid at work or first aid at work in Windsor, we cover the whole area, and we will fit the days around your rota rather than the other way round.

How many days you need is set by your risk assessment

There is no legal table that says a business of a given size gets a given number of training days. The Health and Safety Executive (HSE) expects employers to assess their own first aid needs and provide what those needs demand, taking account of hazards, the number of employees, shift patterns, lone workers and how far you are from emergency help. That assessment is what tells you whether you need three-day first aiders, one-day emergency first aiders, or a mix of both.

In practice, most workplaces we train end up with a mix. A handful of staff hold the full three-day first aid at work qualification and act as the named first aiders, while a wider group hold the one-day certificate so there is always someone competent on every shift and during holidays. That is more resilient than sending three people on the long course and hoping none of them leave.

A word on requalification. FAW certificates last three years, and letting one lapse quietly is how businesses discover on the wrong day that their cover expired eight months ago. Diary the expiry date the day the certificate is issued.

Booking the days around your business, not around a timetable

We only train at your premises. We do not run open sessions that individual delegates book onto, which means the dates are yours to choose. You tell us the shift you can release staff on, we build the three days or the one day around it. Delegate numbers are capped so nobody is standing at the back watching one manikin from four metres away.

Two other things worth knowing when you are planning your days. First, our Emergency First Aid at Work course includes paediatric content at no extra cost, which matters if your staff work anywhere children are present. Second, our mental health courses are accredited by FAA, and some employers schedule those alongside physical first aid training so the whole programme lands in one planning cycle.

• Three days: First Aid at Work, the full qualification, three-year certificate.
• One day: Emergency First Aid at Work, about six hours, up to 12 delegates, three-year certificate.
• Blended: online theory plus practical at your venue, same duration and compliance for EFAW.
• Delivered on site: your premises, your equipment, your layout, across Berkshire and surrounding areas.

Aim2Aid Ltd, company number 16319053, trades from Windsor in Berkshire and trains employers across the county and surrounding areas. Call Rebecca on 07771 680794 with your headcount and your risk assessment, and you will get a straight answer on how many days you actually need. Our reviews are on the site if you want to read them first.