15/07/2026
Part of the Telford and Wrekin outdoor education service is promoting national guidance on school outdoor education activities. Here are some of the latest guidelines ...
Health and safety updates for outdoor education.
It’s part of the risk-benefit assessment and planning process.
The newly updated OEAP NG document 4.4b First aid begins : ‘The Health & Safety (First Aid) Regulations 1981 state: “An employer shall provide or ensure that there are provided, such equipment and facilities as are adequate and appropriate in the circumstances for enabling first aid to be rendered to their employees if they are injured or become ill at work”.’ This also applies to, it continues, the children and young people in the care of an establishment. The provision of first aid during off-site visits and activities should therefore be considered as part of the risk-benefit assessment and planning process.
This document provides guidance about first aid provision on educational visits. It includes information about legal requirements and government guidance, advice about how to assess the need for first aid provision using the STAGER framework, and information about first aid qualifications, with examples of different types of educational visit. It has sections about emergency medication (including anaphylaxis and asthma), sepsis and recording and reporting.
“It is also a legal requirement that all public service vehicles, including minibuses, must carry a first aid kit.”
This updated document will prove to be particularly useful for employers, EVCs, governors, heads and managers, LA officers and outdoor education advisers.
The free to download and use guidance document draws attention to the fact that the Department for Education provides guidance on first aid in early years settings, schools and colleges. This includes recommendations for the minimum contents of a travelling first aid kit and for a vehicle first aid box.
About STAGER
Establishments should have in place an assessment which determines their first aid provision on site, says the download. Off-site provision is simply an extension of this. The determination of the appropriate requirements should consider the STAGER variables – see OEAP National Guidance document 1b Foundations for more information regarding this.
Staff – the competence in first aid of the visit leadership team
Timing – for example, an outdoor activity at night or in winter may entail more risk of injury than at other times, or a visit out of the establishment’s normal hours may need to be more self-sufficient
Activities – the nature of the planned activities, and possible injuries associated with them (for example, blisters on a long walk)
Group – the nature of the group (for example, does any participant have an allergy, asthma or other medical condition that may need to be treated?)
Environment – first aid provision, and how a first aid kit needs to be packed, may depend on the expected environmental conditions during the visit (for example, is there a risk of sunburn, hypothermia, altitude sickness, bites or stings, or exposure to an infectious disease such as coronavirus?)
Remoteness – the extent to which the group will be isolated from other first aid provision and the support of the emergency services (both in terms of distance and response time).
https://oeapng.info/18945-health-and-safety-updates-for-outdoor-education/
