Mental health first aid
The Health and Safety Executive (HSE) just provided an updated version of their L74 guidance document for 2024. Among the updates is an emphasis on “employers’ responsibilities to take account of employees’ mental health in their first-aid needs assessment.”
A new ‘factor to consider’ within the checklist for ‘assessment of first aid needs’ asks: Are there inexperienced workers on site, or employees who are disabled or have particular physical or mental health problems?” In which case the impact on the first aid-provision should be to consider additional training for first-aiders.
While no specific mention of mental health is mentioned in a lone working context in the checklist, a recommendation for “employees who travel a lot, work remotely or work alone” is to consider “issuing personal communicators/mobile phones to employees.”
About L74
The L74 document provides guidance to employers and the self-employed about what they must do when giving first aid in the workplace, like:
- The provision of first aid (first-aid kit, equipment, rooms etc)
- Requirements and training for first-aiders and appointed persons
- Making employees aware of first-aid arrangements
- Cases where first-aid regulations do not apply
More updates
Three updates were made to the L74 document for 2024. The other two were to:
- Change the term ‘catastrophic bleeding’ to ‘life-threatening bleeding’, with more guidance on what employers should do if this happens
- Simplify guidance about training providers