First Aid Training at Work: Who Needs It and How Often?

Ask around your company who knows first aid and you will usually hear “anyone can handle that” — and when something actually happens, everyone waits for somebody else to call the ambulance. The Labour Code anticipates exactly this situation and deals with it simply: it does not ask everyone to know first aid in some vague general way, but requires specific, named and trained people on site who know what to do at the critical moment.

This is where the most common misunderstanding arises. Plenty of companies believe they have met the duty with a “first aid” chapter in ordinary OSH training and a first aid kit in the corridor. That is not the same thing. We will go through what exactly the law requires, how many people to train, what the course must cover, how often to repeat it and how to document the whole thing when somebody asks.

Straight to the second part of the question in the headline: no regulation sets a uniform refresher interval — the employer determines it based on the risks of their own operation. Anyone telling you “the law says every two years” is quoting custom, not a section of the act.

What the Labour Code actually requires

The key provision is Section 102(6) of the Labour Code (Act No. 262/2006 Sb.). Under it, the employer is obliged to adopt measures for dealing with emergencies and, among other things, to designate, according to the type of activity and the size of the workplace, the necessary number of employees who organise the provision of first aid, arrange for the emergency medical services, fire brigade and police to be called, and organise the evacuation of employees.

The second part of the same provision says how to do it: the employer shall ensure the training and equipping of these employees in cooperation with the occupational health services provider, to an extent corresponding to the risks present at the workplace. In addition, Section 103 of the Labour Code lists among the employer’s duties the provision of first aid to employees itself.

Three practical conclusions follow. First: the duty applies to every employer — an office with five people just as much as a production hall running three shifts; only the scope differs. Second: the designated employees must be specific individuals, not an anonymous “everyone who was trained”. And third: their training is not an internal formality but an act in which the occupational health services provider is to take part — that is, the doctor with whom the company has an occupational health services contract.

Why a first aid chapter in OSH training is not enough

Ordinary OSH training for employees usually mentions first aid: where the first aid kit hangs, what the emergency numbers are, who the designated person is. That is fine — every employee should know these basics. But that fulfils the duty to inform everyone, not the duty to train the designated employees under Section 102(6).

The difference lies in both depth and role. A designated employee is not merely supposed to know that a first aid kit exists. They must be able to organise the provision of first aid: assess the situation, start resuscitation or stop massive bleeding, send a specific person to call the emergency line, send another to the entrance to guide the ambulance crew in, and keep order at the scene until help arrives. That cannot be learned from a slide deck — it takes hands-on practice.

In practice, a two-layer model works best: all employees get the basics as part of OSH training, and a smaller group of designated people goes through a separate practical first aid course. During an inspection, and during a real accident, nobody asks whether “everyone heard something once”, but whether someone on that shift knew what they were doing.

How many people to train: no statutory number, but clear logic

No regulation sets a specific number or a ratio along the lines of “one first aider per twenty employees”. The Labour Code speaks of the necessary number according to the type of activity and the size of the workplace — and it is up to the employer to determine it and be able to defend it. A sensible guide looks like this:

For a small office this typically works out at two or three trained people (so absences are covered), and for shift operations at least one or two per shift and per workplace. The specific number should follow from a risk assessment — we describe how that is prepared in our article on OSH risk assessment in the workplace. What matters is putting the decision in writing: a list of designated employees with the date of designation and training is precisely the document that decides the outcome of an inspection.

How often to repeat the training

As with periodic OSH training, the rule is: no legal regulation sets a uniform refresher interval for first aid training. The employer determines the interval according to the risks of the operation, and it is worth recording it in writing in their own documentation.

In practice the most common choice is a refresher every two years; in higher-risk operations — manufacturing, construction, work with chemical substances — training is usually held once a year. The logic is simple: resuscitation and stopping bleeding are motor skills, and without repeated practice they fade. A course taken five years ago is worth close to nothing in a crisis.

Outside the regular interval, it also makes sense to run training:

• when a new employee is designated (a new hire, or the departure of the current designated person),
• on a substantial change in operations — new technology, new chemical substances, a new workplace,
• after a real incident that exposed gaps: an accident where the wait for the ambulance was longer than necessary because nobody knew who was doing what.

What to do immediately after an accident, who records it and when it is reported to the labour inspectorate is covered in detail in our article on workplace accidents — first aid training is its practical counterpart: it deals with the minutes before the paperwork begins.

What the training should cover

The content should follow from the risks of the specific workplace — which is why the Labour Code prescribes cooperation with the occupational health services provider, who knows the company’s risks from occupational medical examinations. A good course for designated employees usually covers:

1. Assessing the situation and the rescuer’s own safety — first making sure the rescuer does not become the next casualty (typically with electrical injuries or in areas with moving machinery).
2. Resuscitation with hands-on practice on a manikin, including the use of an AED if one is within reach.
3. Stopping massive bleeding — pressure dressing, practised on a model.
4. Conditions specific to the operation’s risks — burns, chemical burns and eye irrigation, electrical injuries, falls from height, choking.
5. Organising the response — who calls 155/112, what to tell the operator, who guides the crew in, what the handover looks like.
6. Links to company documents — the emergency response plan with key numbers and first aid kit locations, reporting duties in the event of an accident.

For designated employees, treat a presentation without practice as inadequate. E-learning can cover theory and knowledge refreshers well, but motor skills — chest compressions, a pressure dressing — cannot be learned without hands on a manikin.

How to document the training

During an inspection, the duty is proven with paper, not with recollection. It is worth having together:

• written designation of the employees who organise first aid (a list of names with workplaces and shifts, date, employer’s signature),
• proof of training — an attendance sheet with signatures, the date, the trainer’s name and qualifications, the course syllabus,
• the set refresher interval in your own internal directive, plus a record of upcoming dates,
• proof of cooperation with the occupational health services provider — typically an agreed scope of training and first aid kit contents,
• the emergency response plan posted at the workplace and matching reality (current names and numbers).

These are exactly the documents the regional labour inspectorate will ask for alongside OSH training — we describe everything an inspection goes through in our article on labour inspectorate inspections. An empty “designated persons” box is much harder to explain away than a missing signature on a sheet.

First aid kits: equipment is part of the duty

Equipment goes hand in hand with training. Act No. 309/2006 Sb., on further conditions of occupational safety and health protection, requires in Section 2(1)(f) that workplaces be equipped, to the extent agreed with the relevant occupational health services provider, with means for providing first aid and with means for calling the emergency medical services provider.

There is no universal “statutory first aid kit content” laid down for ordinary workplaces. The contents are determined by the risks: an office manages with basic equipment, a workshop needs more dressings and bandaging material, an operation working with chemical substances needs an eye wash or irrigation solutions. A simple routine works well in practice: one responsible person (typically a designated employee), an expiry check twice a year and a record of that check — expired disinfectant in the first aid kit is a small thing that needlessly spoils the impression of otherwise good documentation.

Who can provide the training and how to arrange it

First aid training for designated employees does not have to be a separate expedition. The most practical approach is to combine it into a single date with OSH and fire safety training for employees — the trainer comes on site once, shifts stop once, and the documentation is created all at once and consistently. How the price of such a block is put together and what to watch for in quotations is covered in our article on the cost of OSH and fire safety training.

If you would like a date for your company, send us a no-obligation enquiry with the number of employees, the number of shifts and a brief description of the operation (office / production / warehouse, plus any chemical substances). We will come back with a proposed scope — how many designated people make sense in your case, what the hands-on practice will cover and how we will link the training to your documentation, including the emergency response plan.

Frequently asked questions

How often is first aid training repeated?

The law sets no interval — the employer determines it according to the risks of their operation and usually anchors it in their OSH documentation. In practice, offices stick to a two-year interval, and higher-risk operations (manufacturing, chemicals, work at height, standalone sites) to once a year. What matters is that the chosen interval is justified and that the company then actually keeps to it.

Is a first aid chapter in ordinary OSH training enough?

For rank-and-file employees yes, for designated employees no. Under Section 102(6) of the Labour Code, they must have training corresponding to the risks at the workplace and arranged in cooperation with the occupational health services provider — which a general chapter in group training usually fails to meet, because it has no hands-on practice.

How many employees do we have to designate?

There is no specific number in the law. It is determined according to the type of activity and the size of the workplace so that a designated employee is available on every shift and at every separate site. A practical rule of thumb: two per shift rather than one, because one of them tends to be on holiday or out at a customer’s site.

Does a doctor have to deliver the training?

The law says the employer arranges the training in cooperation with the occupational health services provider — not that the trainer has to be a doctor. The practical part is commonly led by a paramedic or another professionally qualified trainer; what matters is that the content matches the risks of your operation and that it can be documented.

What if an accident happens and no designated person is on site?

Beyond the harm to health itself, it is also a problem during an inspection. This is exactly what inspectors ask about: whether designated employees were available at the time of the accident. That is why the number and placement of designated people follows from shifts and separate sites, not from the total headcount.

Sources

• Employee training – SOHE service: OSH, fire safety and first aid training at your premises.
• OSH training for employees: when to repeat it and what it must cover – general OSH training, of which the first aid chapter is a part.
• Workplace accidents: what to do immediately – the procedure after an accident, the accident register and reporting.
• Act No. 262/2006 Sb., the Labour Code – Section 102(6) (designation and training of employees organising first aid), Section 103 (ensuring the provision of first aid, employee training).
• Act No. 309/2006 Sb. – requirements for workplaces, including equipment with means for providing first aid and for calling the emergency medical services.

The legal position was verified as at 24 July 2026; both acts are applied as amended. The refresher interval for first aid training and a uniform first aid kit content for ordinary workplaces are not laid down by law — the employer determines both according to the risks, and the equipment in cooperation with the occupational health services provider.

This text is informational and does not replace legal advice. The specific number of designated employees, the training content and the first aid kit equipment need to be set according to your actual operation and risk assessment.

Not sure how many people to train or how to document first aid training? We provide employee training in OSH, fire safety and first aid on a single date at your premises — including hands-on practice and documentation that stands up to inspection. Send us a no-obligation enquiry or write to info@sohe.cz and we will arrange a date that fits your shifts.