Require female CPR manikins in all certified first aid training programs

The Government should implement minimum standards for first aid training providers to ensure every trainee practises CPR and first aid on a manikin with female anatomy. All training providers should be required to include anatomically accurate female manikins alongside standard male manikins.

A recent study found fear of inappropriate touching is a key reason people hesitate to help women. CPR manikins often have flat, male chests, so trainees are less likely to practise on female bodies. We believe mandating anatomically female dummies could build confidence, reduce hesitation, and help close this potentially deadly gender gap.

The Health and Safety Executive (HSE) is the responsible authority for enforcement of workplace health and safety legislation in Great Britain. This legislation includes the Health and Safety (First – Aid) Regulations 1981 and the Offshore Installations and Pipeline Works (First-Aid) Regulations 1989, which require employers to provide adequate and appropriate first aid equipment and facilities to employees who are injured or become ill at work.

The regulations are not prescriptive on how this is achieved, but require employers to undertake a needs assessment, taking account of all of the circumstances of their business to ensure they have the level of first aid provision that is right for them.

HSE is not responsible for the approval of first aid qualifications or training providers except for in offshore oil and gas installations within the United Kingdom Continental Shelf or for regulating first aid provision outside of work environments.

There is no single Government body responsible for approval of the content or equipment used in all first aid training courses.

The First Aid Quality Partnership (FAQP) is an industry forum, on which HSE is represented but is not a member. The membership includes first aid standard setters, such as St John Ambulance and the British Red Cross, representatives of training providers regulated by national qualifications regulators, representatives of independent training providers and providers of emergency medicine. Leading experts in CPR, the Resuscitation Council UK, are also members.

HSE will present the petition to the FAQP, requesting that they consider the request made, and respond as appropriate. FAQP members will reasonably need time to discuss the petition request and potentially to consult with wider organisations they represent. Once HSE has presented the petition to them, we will request that they provide an approximate timeframe for their response and will update the Committee accordingly.

Department for Work and Pensions