Health risks in the workplace are unavoidable and bring with them the possibility of injury for your staff. This is not only a risk for staff’s health but also affects your business and how much work gets done. To help minimise these disturbances, you or your employees may need to perform emergency first aid at work.

Assessing the Workplace

By law, all workplaces must have a health risks assessment which identifies any way that a member of staff could get hurt. From this assessment, employers are able to minimise these risks by implementing safeguarding procedures. This can include things like always wearing safety gear or ensuring hands are sanitised after every interaction with a client. While these reduce the number of injuries, there are still things that could harm someone due to malfunctioning technology or even just human error. In manufacturing settings, large machines, industrial tools and raw materials could all potentially cause harm. On the other hand, there may be risks that could cause someone to become ill. In a healthcare setting, staff are constantly exposed to harmful viruses and bacteria and while wearing masks and washing hands can prevent illness, it does not get rid of everything that could infect you. Finally, there are emergency situations that may not be caused by anything from the workplace but still require first aid. For example, someone being exposed to a food they are allergic to and having an extreme reaction.

Training for Staff

Emergency first aid at work could mean the difference between a minor injury and a trip to A&E. For this, your staff must be trained to be able to give first aid in an emergency situation. Employers and managers are both able to set these events up and give staff the opportunity to take time out of their work day to learn essential skills. During the course, they will gain the knowledge and skills to help them explain their role as a first aider, what equipment is available to them, how to properly record an incident, explain the importance of health and safety procedures in the workspace and how to administer first aid. This training will help if a staff member becomes unconscious, has a seizure, is wounded/bleeding, in shock, choking or suffering from other workplace injuries. Finally, in the event that a staff member has an episode with their heart, staff will also be able to perform CPR.

Set Up Your Training Session

Finding the right training provider makes setting up a training season much easier. It is important that your provider not only offers all of the key information you need, but also has courses that show staff how to properly record incidents for future reference and insurance purposes as this protects the company as well as staff. Their training courses should also give staff certifications that show they are equipped to handle these emergency situations. To help reduce the amount of travel time and get the most for your money, look for a provider that offers courses local to our workplace. This makes it easier for staff to get to and increases how many people are able to get certified. Finally, look for providers with a lot of experience in giving these training sessions and have had many past clients. This shows that they are trusted advisors and are extremely knowledgeable about emergency first aid at work.

Conclusion

By providing a first aid training session for your staff, you are helping them to handle emergency situations in the future and protect the health and safety of staff. You also help to protect your own business as you make sure the workplace is a s safe as possible. To learn more about the different training sessions available, visit the Centaur Training website.