St John Ambulance has launched a campaign to encourage Herts businesses to improve first aid in the workplace to save lives and stop them breaking the law.

The charity is inviting businesses to answer four simple questions on its website www.sja.org.uk/survey to help determine whether or not they are meeting statutory first aid requirements.

If results indicate a company risks legal action, the charity can provide advice and professional first aid training, a spokesman said. He added that last year over 1,100 businesses in the eastern region were taken to court because of health and safety failings, resulting in fines as large as �140,000.

Sue Skoyles, regional training manager, said there were many reasons why a company could be breaking the law.

”On any given day, first aiders might be absent because of illness, holiday or training. Or there may not be sufficient first aid cover because many companies are not meeting the legal minimum in the first place.

“That means if someone has an injury and is bleeding – or even has a heart attack – there may be no one to provide the vital first aid that could be the difference between life and death in an emergency.

“We hope businesses in Hertfordshire will take up our survey and let us help them make some positive changes.”