Changes to First Aid at Work Regulations - Mental Health Provisions

New Regulations

There are often changes to regulations, best practices, and industry guidelines. Your first aid policy must be up to date to reflect current standards.

As an example of a recent change, the Health and Safety Executive updated their Guide to The Health and Safety (First-Aid) Regulations 1981 at the beginning of this year.

The new guidance highlights the importance of considering employees’ Mental Health within the framework of a first aid needs assessment and states:

'It may also be helpful to have people trained to identify and understand mental ill health symptoms who are able to support someone who is experiencing a mental health issue. You may decide that someone with an FAW or EFAW qualification is already able to provide initial support and reassurance to a worker experiencing an acute mental health episode, but you should consider if any further training is required. You should be satisfied that they:

• Know how to access professional help if necessary
• Can act promptly, safely and effectively until that help is available.

Couple this with the HSE annual statistics with the report showing that nearly two million workers in Great Britain reported suffering ill-health due to their work, with stress, depression, or anxiety accounting for approximately half of these cases.

According to the HSE, out of the 1.8 million workers experiencing work-related ill health, a staggering 875,000 cited stress, depression, or anxiety as a direct result of their work.

In addition to the human toll, the economic impact is substantial, with an estimated 35.2 million working days lost in 2022/23 due to self-reported work-related ill health or injury.

Whether you’re a small business or a large corporation, the law requires all employers to prevent work related stress to promote, support and sustain good mental health in the workplace.

All managers should be given the skills to support employees with mental health issues, NICE and Office for Health Improvement & Disparities have said in new guidance.

Reducing stigma and equipping managers with skills to have conversations with employees about mental health is likely to facilitate conversations that address concerns about their mental wellbeing, the guideline says.

National Institue for Health and Care Excellance (NICE)  and The Office for Health Improvement and Disparities issued guideline on Mental Wellbeing at Work covers how to create the right conditions to support mental wellbeing at work through an environment and culture of participation, equality, safety and fairness in the workplace based on open communication.

The independent guideline committee, made up of mental health experts, employers, professionals from across the NHS, local authority members, and lay members, recommended when offering mental health training for managers, employers should consider including:

• How to have a conversation about mental wellbeing with an employee
• Information about mental wellbeing
• How to identify early warning signs of poor mental wellbeing
• Resources on mental wellbeing
• Awareness of the stigma associated with poor mental wellbeing
• Ongoing monitoring of mental wellbeing in the workplace

The guideline  says the training should equip managers with the knowledge, tools, skills and resources to improve awareness of mental wellbeing at work. It should also improve employees’ understanding of and engagement in organisational decisions and the communication between managers and employees.

EC Safety Solutions deliver various First Aid for Mental Health Courses

Courses on offer are:

Level 1 Award in Awareness of First Aid for Mental Health in the workplace - 1/2 day.
Level 2 Award in First Aid for Mental Health in the workplace - 1 day.
Level 3 Award in Supervising First Aid for Mental Health in the workplace - 2 days.
Various Mental Health eLearning Awareness Courses

Contact Steve W on 08001930246 for more info on the courses available