Why First Aid in the Workplace is Important

Every employee should feel safe in their workplace, and one of the best ways to ensure this is to have fully trained first aid personnel amongst your staff. The good news is that these skills can be taught in short and relatively inexpensive courses available throughout Australia. But why exactly should you prioritise first aid training in your workplace? Continue reading to find out!

First aid often makes urgent situations less severe

The purpose of first aid training is to equip people with the skills and knowledge needed to provide best practice care in urgent situations – without this provision, injuries can become far more problematic. Take for example a situation where one of your staff members is having a heart attack. This is of course a condition where most people don’t know what to do, so they simply call an ambulance. When you have a first aid trained employee, however, they will know how to give CPR and even use automated external defibrillators if necessary. In situations like these, you decrease the severity of the condition or injury because you have informed people assisting with up to date medical techniques.

It makes your staff feel safer while on the job

When you have employees who are trained to administer first aid in emergency situations, it gives your team a sense of confidence that if something were to go wrong, there would be someone who knows how to address the situation. This provides a greater sense of security and wellbeing, especially for people who work in higher risk workplaces where injury may be more common.

Some workplaces carry heightened risks of injury

It goes without saying that different workplaces carry with them different risks for injury – for example, your everyday office job is typically going to be a safer environment than one that uses heavy machinery or chemicals on a day to day basis. It’s handy for any workplace to have someone with first aid skills on hand, but this is especially important if the environment puts employees at even more risk than usual. When you prioritise this training, you and your staff can feel confident that any injuries that may occur can be appropriately dealt with.