New HSE 1st Aid

7 January 2019

The updated guidance is to help employers support staff experiencing a mental health issue.  The guidance states employers should consider ways to appropriately manage mental ill health in the workplace.

This could include providing information or training for managers and employees, employing occupational health professionals, appointing mental health-trained first aiders and implementing employee support programmes.

The guidance follows an open letter written by 50 business leaders to the Prime Minister calling for a change in the law to protect mental health in the workplace, putting it on equal footing with physical first aid.

St John Ambulance welcomed the news “St John Ambulance firmly believes that taking care of our own and one another’s mental wellbeing, whether it’s managing stress, depression or another condition, is as important as looking after physical illness.”

Mental Health First Aiders can be a catalyst for engagement, providing employees with confidence to come forward and see support in their time of need.

Of those who have suffered from mental health in the workplace, 37% have never sought any professional help for their mental health problems and 44% have never disclosed their issues to a manager at work.

The updated HSE first aid guidance is available to read online - http://www.hse.gov.uk/firstaid/needs-assessment.htm