OSHA Employer CPR Requirements

The Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) has requirements for first aid emergency care including cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR). Employees may have to sustain another employee with a health emergency before EMS personnel arrive to decrease the risk of brain damage and death.

Basics

• Although OSHA recommends that every workplace have at least one employee trained in first aid and CPR, it is not required and may be substituted with other options. OSHA encourages employers to assess the risks of the workplace individually and decide on the necessary steps to take to ensure that all employees will have access to emergency care in four minutes or less.

Proximity to an Emergency Facility

• Instead of training his employees in first aid and CPR, an employer may rely on the proximity of his workplace to a hospital, clinic or other emergency care facility. Emergency services may be delivered on-site or after evacuating the victim to the emergency care facility, which can be no more than four minutes from the worksite. Employers must ensure ahead of time with the emergency facility that appropriate care can and will be given in less than four minutes in the event of an emergency. However, “In the absence of an infirmary clinic, hospital, or physician, that is reasonably accessible in terms of time and distance to the worksite...[a person certified in CPR and first aid] shall be available at the worksite to render first aid.” This certification must be proven in writing by an approved organization, such as the American Red Cross or American Heart Association.

Training

• First aid and CPR training for employees must be delivered using the conventional methods of lecture, demonstration, skills practice and written examination. Before achieving certification the teacher must ensure that all participants are capable of accurately performing assessment and first aid for “respiratory arrest, cardiac arrest, hemorrhage, lacerations/abrasions, amputations, musculoskeletal injuries, shock, eye injuries, burns, loss of consciousness, extreme temperature exposure (hypothermia/hyperthermia), paralysis, poisoning, loss of mental functioning (psychosis/hallucinations, etc.), artificial ventilation, drug overdose."