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QNUK Level 3 Award in Emergency First Aid at Work (Security) (RQF)
One day, developed to support security officers in meeting the first aid requirements of the Security Industry Authority. Standard EFAW, taught against the incidents door and site staff actually face.
About this course
The SIA expects licensed security operatives to hold an appropriate emergency first aid qualification, and the QNUK Level 3 Award in Emergency First Aid at Work (Security) was developed specifically to support that requirement.
Underneath it is a full Emergency First Aid at Work qualification: the role of the first aider, assessing an incident, CPR, the recovery position, choking, bleeding, shock, minor injuries and minor burns. It is not a lesser version of EFAW and it does not sit below it.
What changes is the context the training is set in. Security officers deal with casualties in doorways, stairwells, car parks and crowds, often alone, often with a hostile audience, and frequently with an intoxicated or uncooperative casualty. Scenarios are built around that rather than around an office kitchen.
It suits door supervisors, static and mobile guarding, CCTV and control room staff, event and stewarding teams and in house security. We run it at our centres and on site, including around night shift patterns.
- The role and responsibilities of an emergency first aider, consent and infection control
- Assessing an incident where the scene is not under control
- Carrying out a primary survey and summoning help, including what to tell the ambulance service
- When to administer CPR, and demonstrating adult CPR on a manikin
- The recovery position, and monitoring an intoxicated or unresponsive casualty
- Choking, mild and severe
- Controlling external bleeding, and recognising and treating shock
- Seizures, minor injuries and minor burns and scalds
- Recording and reporting an incident in a way that stands up afterwards
How completing this course helps you
- QNUK Level 3 Award in Emergency First Aid at Work (Security), valid for three years
- A first aid qualification developed to support the SIA requirement for security officers
- The same standing as standard EFAW for a workplace first aid needs assessment
- Practice on the kind of incident a security officer actually gets called to
Who should attend?
Licensed security operatives and anybody working in security who needs an emergency first aid qualification: door supervisors, static and mobile guards, event security and stewards, retail security, CCTV and control room operators, and in house security teams.
Entry requirements. None. You need to be physically able to carry out practical first aid on the floor, including CPR on a manikin, and to have enough English to follow the training and the written assessment.
Ready to take the next step?
Choose a delivery option, compare dates and book with confidence, or ask MB and get an answer straight away.
Choosing the right one
Which first aid course does your workplace actually need?
The Health and Safety (First-Aid) Regulations 1981 do not name a course. They tell an employer to carry out a first aid needs assessment and then provide what that assessment says is adequate, which is why two businesses next door to each other can land on different answers.
The rough shape is this. Lower hazard workplaces usually land on Emergency First Aid at Work, one day. Higher hazard workplaces, larger headcounts and anywhere with specific risks usually land on First Aid at Work, three days. Early years settings have their own rules through the Department for Education. Outdoor and remote work adds distance from the ambulance, which changes the answer again.
If you are not sure where you sit, ring us with what your people actually do and we will talk it through. Sending somebody on the wrong course costs more than the phone call.
Do the needs assessment first
Hazards, headcount, shift patterns, lone workers and how far you are from help. The HSE guidance is the starting point and it is short.
Match the course to the answer
EFAW for lower hazard, FAW for higher hazard, plus any specific qualification your setting or your insurer requires.
Plan the three years
Certificates last three years and the HSE recommends an annual refresher in between. Diary it when you book, not when it expires.
Course content
What you will cover
The qualification is structured around the management of health and safety and the practical application of risk assessment.
The emergency first aider
- The role and responsibilities of a first aider
- Minimising the risk of infection to self and others
- Consent, including from a casualty who is refusing help
- Conducting a scene survey where the scene is not yet safe
- Conducting a primary survey
- Summoning appropriate assistance and handing over
Emergency first aid
- When to administer CPR, and demonstrating adult CPR
- When and how to place a casualty in the recovery position
- Monitoring an unresponsive or intoxicated casualty
- Seizures
- Choking, mild and severe
- External bleeding and shock
- Minor injuries, and minor burns and scalds
- Recording and reporting the incident
Method of assessment
How this qualification is assessed
Assessment runs through the course rather than being bolted on at the end. Your tutor observes the practical work as you go, and the written paper closes it off.
Practical observation
Observed through the day: scene and primary survey, adult CPR on a manikin, the recovery position, choking and bleeding control, set in security scenarios rather than office ones.
Multiple choice examination
A written paper at the end of the day. Same standard as any Emergency First Aid at Work assessment.
Certification
Issued by QNUK and valid for three years.
Ways to learn
How you can take this course
Every route covers the same accredited syllabus and the same support. Pick the one that fits how your people work.
Classroom
Tutor-led at one of our centres, with everything provided.
Ask us to open a classroom date →or ask MB nowDates and locations
Arrange this course
There are no scheduled dates for this course at the moment. It is normally arranged around you.
Tell us roughly when you need it and how many people are going, and we will come back with dates and a price.
Also available
In-company training
We run this one to order, at your place or ours.
Onsite / in-company
Run EFAW (Security) at your site
We deliver anywhere in the UK, on your dates and around your shift patterns. For six or more people it is usually cheaper per head than sending everyone to a centre, and nobody loses a day travelling.
Tell us roughly how many people and when, and we will come back with options and a price, or ask MB and get an answer straight away.
What onsite includes
- The same tutor, materials and certification as our centres
- Your venue or one we arrange near you
- Dates and start times built around your operation
- One invoice and one point of contact for the whole group
- Content examples drawn from your own workplace
EFAW (Security) FAQs
QNUK developed this qualification specifically to support security officers in meeting the first aid requirements of the Security Industry Authority. SIA requirements can change, so if you are training for a specific licence application, send us the exact wording you have been given and we will confirm the fit before you book.
The qualification sits at the same level and covers the same core first aid. The difference is context: the scenarios are built around the incidents security staff deal with, including uncooperative and intoxicated casualties, scenes that are not yet safe, and working alone with an audience.
Yes. We deliver onsite and can run the day to suit a security rota rather than office hours, which is usually the only way to get a whole team trained without paying everyone to come in on a rest day.
It is built into how the scenarios run. A lot of security first aid happens before any colleague arrives, so the emphasis is on what one person can achieve and on getting help moving early.
Three years. The HSE also recommends an annual refresher in between, which is a half day and keeps skills and confidence current rather than letting them fade for three years at a time.
Yes, anywhere in the UK. For six or more people it is normally cheaper per head than sending everybody to a centre, and nobody loses a day travelling. We work around your shift patterns.
At our centres in Stoke-on-Trent, Derby, Manchester and Liverpool, at your own premises nationwide, and through our partner network where a local option suits you better. Pick a date from the board on this page or call 0330 124 2165.
QNUK, an Ofqual regulated awarding organisation. This one is QNUK Level 3 Award in Emergency First Aid at Work (Security) (RQF), accreditation number 610/2463/0. We are an approved QNUK centre.
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