St John Ambulance is launching new first aid training across England, specially designed for the farming and forestry industry.
The charity and leading training provider has tailored its popular Emergency First Aid at Work course to the sector and added ‘severe harm’ content, to reflect the serious risks workers face on a daily basis.
Recent figures from the Health and Safety Executive (HSE)* revealed that 144,000 injuries are reported in the industry each year, and there were 160 fatalities from 2010-2015.
A higher proportion of people working in agriculture (4 per cent) sustain work-related injuries than any other sector in the UK.
St John Ambulance workplace training director, John Cavanagh said: ‘The nature of their work means that farming and forestry workers face high and severe risk levels; sadly that’s reflected in the large volume of injuries reported every year.
‘These are people frequently using big, powerful machines and vehicles, often working in remote locations, so it’s vital to know what to do when accidents happen – particularly as injuries can be significant and life-threatening.
‘Our expert trainers will equip people with first aid skills to help them how to deal with a range of incidents in the countryside and be the difference between a life lost and a life saved in an emergency.’
Additional, specialised content on the new one-day course includes:
• Managing severe bleeding sustained with cutting tools such as chainsaws
• Treatment of amputations
• Crush injuries
• Casualties suffering from extremes of heat and cold
• Lyme disease
The aim of the training is to increase safeguards for workers in the farming and forestry industry – particularly where an employer’s risk assessment indicates that extra measures must be taken to manage potential severe injuries.
Training is delivered on site at a business’s premises, or can be hosted at one of St John Ambulance’s training centres across the region.
St John Ambulance's workplace training arm is the nation’s leading face-to-face provider of first aid and health and safety qualifications.
And all surpluses from the business are invested in the charity, including providing first aid skills to school children, and supporting volunteers with training and equipment so that they can provide first aid cover at events.
