More than three quarters of UK employers have inadvertently broken health and safety laws at different times in the past by having no trained first aiders present in the workplace, according to a charity.

But even those that appear to be employing appropriate numbers of skilled personnel in this area often misinterpret guidelines introduced last October by the Health and Safety Executive (HSE), the St John’s Ambulance has warned.

The regulations state that organisations must no longer simply provide adequate levels of trained first aiders, the number of which is decided based on assessments to determine whether the business falls into a low, medium or high risk category.

Instead they now have to ensure that there is adequate cover in place for planned staff absences, which includes holiday and sickness, in order to ensure that someone else can step in and assume the role.

A worrying 15% of businesses have never even undertaken the basic step of undertaking a risk assessment to determine workplace threats, however, according to figures from the charity.

Richard Evens, training and marketing director at the St John’s Ambulance, said: “In the last year, there have been over 1,100 cases of businesses being taken to court because of health and safety failings, resulting in 87% being convicted. The repercussions can be immense, not only in terms of the safety of their employees but also legally and financially.”

Because of the complexity involved in undertaking risk assessments and understanding legal requirements, however, the organisation has introduced a British Safety Council-accredited course specifically aimed at small-to-medium businesses. The aim is to help them understand how they can become compliant, he added.

The new HSE guidelines also recommend that organisations ensure that designated personnel undertake annual three hour-long First Aid at Work refresher courses in order to keep their skills up-to-date.