CART What are the Benefits of First Aid at Work Training?
What are the Benefits of First Aid at Work Training?
First aid training is an effective way to ensure your staff stays safe in the workplace, but it can also bring several surprising benefits to your team. This article explores how first aid can promote a positive workplace culture, enhance leadership skills, and more.
Implementing first aid training at your workplace ensures compliance with the Health and Safety (First-Aid) Regulations, which mandate that employers must provide sufficient and suitable equipment, facilities, and personnel to safeguard employee welfare. Beyond regulatory compliance, first aid training plays a crucial role in responding to emergencies and preventing minor injuries from worsening or becoming infected.
Read on to find out how your business can benefit from having a trained first aider and how you can get certified.
Businesses benefit from having staff trained in first aid at work in several ways.
Save Lives
This is undoubtedly the most significant benefit of all those that come with first aid training. First aiders will learn how to respond appropriately to life-threatening situations and know how to administer first aid, including life-saving CPR, to a person who has fallen seriously ill. Having someone on-site with certified first aid knowledge can make a significant difference in medical response time, which could ultimately save a life.
Legal Compliance
The Health and Safety Regulations 1981 state that you must have “adequate and appropriate equipment, facilities and personnel to ensure their employees receive immediate attention if they are injured or taken ill at work.” While there isn’t a specific number specified, having an appropriate number of first aiders on-site (depending on your industry and risks at your workplace) can help your business meet legal health and safety requirements.
Reduce the Number of Workplace Accidents
First aid courses should cover important topics, such as how to be more safety-conscious and minimise hazards. Your staff will learn to be more aware of their surroundings and how to avoid common hazards. This, in turn, can help prevent and reduce repeat accidents within the workplace.
Create a Positive Culture
First aid training for your staff can introduce them to new skills, including clear communication, leadership, and teamwork. These skills can be adapted to everyday work situations and can benefit your team as a whole. This creates a positive workplace atmosphere where staff work cohesively and support one another.
Team Building
Leadership skills are crucial in first aid training, as delegates must know how to promptly manage and mitigate risks effectively. Staff must be able to take control in an emergency and quickly assess the situation to decide on the best course of action. They must be able to delegate tasks to other team members to ensure that appropriate first aid can be given as quickly as possible. This could look like one employee calling an ambulance while another administers CPR.
The number of people formally trained in first aid within your organisation will depend on the number of employees and the associated risks of their jobs. If you have over 25 employees and work in a low-risk environment, you should have at least one certified first aider. If your staff work in a high-risk environment, you should have at least one first aider per 50 employees.
If you have a small number of employees, you may only need an assigned first aid person on site. Your appointed person doesn’t require formal first aid training, but they must be able to manage and delegate first aid tasks effectively in emergencies. At HSE Docs, we offer a First Aid at Work course that provides candidates with the knowledge required to be appointed, including how to approach incidents and the responsibilities of a first aider at work.
Discover more about the recommended number of people to train in first aid in our recent blog.
