Farming and forestry workers lack of first aid skills causes deaths

Farming and forestry workers lack of first aid skills causes deaths

A study by the St John Ambulance has found that a lack of first aid training is contributing heavily to the numbers killed working in forestry and agriculture. 

The UK’s leading first aid charity found that on 54% of occasions when a forestry or agricultural worker had been badly injured there was colleague with them. According to the St John Ambulance around 28.8% of those who die as a result of their injuries would have been saved if their colleague had been trained to provide adequate first aid.

The charity said many businesses were not equipped to handle a first aid emergency and that half of employers lack any formal process for assessing first aid needs. 

Director of training and marketing at St John, Richard Evans, said: “Every employee deserves to feel safe in their working environment and ensuring there is enough first aiders in the event of an emergency is paramount.”