First aid education in the workplace needs to be planned in the context of the risk assessment that has been undertaken. While there might be individuals who are employed to have a specific first aid role, the greater the proportion of the workforce trained in first aid, the greater the likelihood that injured and ill people will receive the help they need quickly.

Context considerations

• Position first aid education for the workplace so that organisations with workers identify it as an important part of their broader occupational safety and health agenda.
• Adapt workplace first aid education provision to ensure that workers in organisations are able to react properly to workplace first aid emergencies and that organisations meet legislative requirements where these exist.
• If available, refer to a risk assessment of the workplace which will have identified any potential hazards that can cause harm to the health of employees, visitors and the environment. This assessment is normally done by occupational safety and health experts. It should also identify if any specific equipment or facility is needed (e.g. defibrillators, stretchers, a first aid room), and can be used alongside any statutory guidelines to identify the number of workers that should receive training.
• Based on the risks faced by the workforce, consider which first aid topics should be covered, and what additional content should be included. This could be equipment and facilities that exist within a specific workplace.
• Include in the programme some content on any relevant workplace legislation, and where they exist, include procedures related to the specific organisation or industry sector and take into account the specific risks of the sector (handling of heavy loads, the existence of toxic products, etc.). Organisations, industry representatives or Government bodies may also have information on the frequency of specific injuries or incidents in the workplace environment that can be taken into account when designing specific programmes.
• In contexts where access to resources and medical care is quite high, as the workplace is a controlled environment, typically there is a designated first aid provider that has access to any tools and training that may be required to provide first aid. The designated first aid provider may also have a duty to document any safety and health incidents.
• The main purpose of workplace first aid education is to increase the chances that workers who experience an injury or illness receive first aid treatment at work. And that this enhances their health outcome before they present at, or are taken to, medical care. This assumes there is onward medical care available.
• The orientation of workplace first aid education towards the workforce means that core workplace first aid programmes will often focus on adult first aid and would not include baby or child first aid techniques. However, in contexts where there are identified needs related to baby and child first aid, such as in education, or where work has a public-facing element (e.g., in retail environments, hospitality, leisure and tourism), workplace first aid programmes should take into account teaching of baby and child first aid techniques.
• In contexts where members of the public are present, the employer should be clear about the requirements for first aid trained employees to help members of the public who need first aid. Check local Good Samaritan laws and regulations and where there are none, encourage learners to help anyone who needs first aid.
• Organisations purchasing workplace first aid education are often pressured by economic considerations when deciding the length of time workers can be absent to receive training, despite the obvious worker safety and health considerations. This is particularly problematic in a context where there is minimal or no regulation or enforcement. Workplace first aid education providers will need to consider ways in which demand for training remains, such as reducing the length of courses while maintaining essential content.
• Ensure that content meets the context risk profile of the workplace while taking into account the fact that workers with first aid skills are lay first aid providers. See the table below:

• Take into account the specific workplace context, such as the type of work undertaken, worker attendance pattern, sickness and staff turnover rates, number of multiple sites, off-site working etc and adapt scenarios accordingly to make them relevant as possible.

Learner considerations

• Informal workers might need enhanced engagement activities to both alert them to learning opportunities and to motivate them to dedicate time out from their work to train. Consider community-led approaches; use of free online courses; or bite-size learning modules (Aquino et al., 2016).
• Workers who are visible and present at times and places where injury frequently occurs (such as taxi drivers, police, bus and commercial delivery drivers, or who are already informally involved in pre-hospital transport could be targeted for first aid education as part of a community resilience programme (Jayaraman et al., 2009 a and b; Tiska et al., 2004).
• There might be varying levels of motivation to learn depending on the recognition (financial or status) that is given to learners who are required to learn by their employer (Pellegrino & Asselin, 2020).
• Workplace learners might develop enhanced collaborative responses to disaster due to being trained together and acting as a response team (Fraser-Wynch et al., 2011).

Facilitation tips

• For long courses, particularly those running over several days, try to ensure a variety of activities are provided for learners, including peer learning, practical practice sessions and use of feedback in order to maintain engagement with learners.
• Consider Blended learning for the workplace, particularly where workers are reluctant or uncomfortable with classroom-based learning, or where a more flexible approach is appropriate (Mancini, 2009; Oliver 2020).
• In places where people are unable to attend courses due to lack of time or access, provide visual educational materials such as posters and public media broadcasts to help people learn.

Learning connections

• There are several learning modalities papers that may be relevant to consider including – Blended learning, Peer learning, Online learning, and Media learning.
• First aid topics should be selected based on the risk profile of the workplace but some common first aid topics in medium to high-risk workplaces might include: Severe bleeding, Amputation, Cuts and grazes, Poisoning and/or Burns.