CPR Essentials
When serious injuries occur in the workplace, the administration of first aid as soon as possible gives the injured person the best chance of recovery, and in some cases, survival. Being able to perform CPR (cardiopulmonary resuscitation), which combines chest compressions with rescue breaths, can save a person’s life through buying time for the emergency services to reach the scene of an incident; in some cases, it can double the chances of survival.
However, over the years, surveys have shown that around three-quarters of people do not know how to perform CPR, although in a YouGov poll conducted for the BHF in September 2014, 47% of people said they had received formal CPR training. Nevertheless, only 29% said they would be confident performing CPR on a loved one, family member or friend, and only 22% would be confident performing CPR on a stranger. As a result, increasing the number of people that have the skills and confidence to perform CPR is a crucial factor in ensuring the best rates of survival.
For example, if an accident results in severe bleeding, it needs to be controlled quickly. If not, the injured person could lose a lot of blood, become unresponsive and possibly develop shock which is a life-threatening condition. If this does happen and the person stops breathing, CPR would need to be administered quickly to have the best chance of saving their life.
If you would like to learn the basic knowledge required to assist anyone who may be having a cardiac failure, our CPR Essentials online training course is a great resource to start with. Although the course is geared towards workplace incidents, this training could be of benefit to anyone who simply wishes to be prepared!
Communication Skills
We have all experienced a time in our lives when things just didn’t go to plan due to a lack of communication. Maybe a mix up of times meant you were late to an important anniversary dinner or you made an awkward comment to your boss after an unclear conversation, but it all came down to more effort required on your part to resolve the issue that should have been avoided. Communication skills not only play a key part in helping to manage your own life, but it can also help prevent accidents in the workplace. Safe working practices and procedures need to be communicated in a clear and concise manner to ensure everyone understands their own responsibilities and that of others.
For example, many accidents occur due to poor communication when attempting to fix blockages or errors with machinery. One such instance occurred in 2019 when an employee started using a piece of machinery that he assumed had been fixed after an engineer had been that morning to look at it. When it failed to work again, the employee pulled apart the base of the cabinet and put his hand inside to search for the blockage; the rotating blade of the machine caught the back of the employee’s right hand, severing the tendons. This case highlights how clear communication could have helped avoid this issue; if the employee had known that the machinery was still not repaired and was aware of the proper procedure for isolating equipment to investigate blockages, the incident would not have occurred.
Regular communication should not be forgotten for home- or remote-workers either. Not only is it important to stay in contact to ensure the workers continued physical safety, if contact with work is poor whilst working from home, workers may also feel disconnected, isolated or abandoned. This can affect stress levels and mental health.
If you would like to learn more about the skills need to accurately convey important pieces of information to colleagues, our Communication Skills online training course will help you to improve your personal and business communication skills on both a verbal and non-verbal level, so that your everyday interactions are more productive and meaningful.
Because of the truly valuable information they offer, for this month only we have a 10% discount for these two courses as we feel they are a great resource for all. Just use the code ‘Safety10‘ at checkout!