First Aid is not the same as PPE
Having a mental health first aider isn’t the same as having protective procedures in place to ensure mental health in the workplace.
Take for example a building firm, in the last 6 months 5 employees have suffered injuries by dropping bricks.
The HSE inspector would want to know why the requirement for adequate PPE has not been met.
First aiders are there to provide assistance once something has already gone wrong they don’t prevent injures or illness occurring.
It’s time to start treating mental health the same ways we treat physical health. By ensuring preventive support systems are in place.
Dropping bricks is part of the job, it’s unavoidable, having steel toe capped boots is what stops the injury. Stress and life challenges are unavoidable but having coping mechanisms and resilience allows people to keep their mind healthy.
The BTG programs provide these protective strategies for mental health in the work place.
We now offer a pay it forward program so that employers can fund places on our programs to look after their employees.
We have the added benefit that if no employees require support we can forward the place on to someone in the wider community.