Mental Health First Aid training is becoming more and more common. Previously mainly used by large and public sector workplaces, many SME’s and self-employed people are now seeing the value of being trained to deal with a Mental Health First Aid emergency or crisis in the workplace.
But do small and medium-sized businesses have to send someone on a Mental health First Aid training course?
It’s not a particularly easy question to answer. But the HSE now say:
‘Following your employers’ first aid needs assessment; you might decide that it will be beneficial to have personnel trained to identify and understand symptoms and able to support someone who might be experiencing a mental health issue.
You should consider ways to manage mental ill health in your workplace which are appropriate for your business, such as providing information or training for managers and employees, employing occupational health professionals, appointing mental health trained first aiders and implementing employee support programmes…’
Even for small businesses, and the self-employed it is worth remembering that 1 in 4 people experience some form of mental ill-health each year. If you manage people, coach people, or work with teams, it could be argued that the chances of someone experiencing a mental health problem or crisis in the workplace are higher than many physical illnesses or accidents. That’s why we join Mental Health First Aid (MHFA) England on a mission to train 1 in 10 people in Mental Health First Aid in the UK.
Our training team find that on physical first aid courses, there is always huge interest when we talk about panic attacks – and as the years go on, delegates are more and more comfortable to talk about their own experiences because of reduced stigma.
Similar to if someone has a heart condition that may go unnoticed until a heart attack, someone may have a mental health condition that is hidden until someone has a crisis. They may react to something in an unexpected way at an unexpected time. Many workplaces would feel unprepared to deal with such an emergency.
Our recommendation, as suggested by the HSE, is that workplaces assess their need to provide physical first aiders in the same way as mental health first aiders. This is based on the number of employees on site, and the risks employees are exposed to.
We would suggest that as a starting point, any organisation that needs a ‘physical first aider’ may wish to consider also training a ‘Mental Health First Aider’
For information on SkillBase First Aid’s Mental Health Training Courses click here.
The bottom line: Workplaces have a statutory need to provide assistance to anyone that becomes ill or injured in the workplace, and with 1 in 4 people experiencing mental health problems, it is good practice to employers to assess their need to provide Mental Health First Aid Training
1 Comment
Grace · June 14, 2018 at 2:14 pm
Such a great article that really gets you thinking about the importance of mental health awareness in working environments. There definitely needs to be more done to ensure employees are trained in ways to cope with work place stress, and if they can introduce a compulsory mental health first aid training scheme, even better!