Over one billion individuals throughout the world have some sort of impairment, yet the corporate community consistently undervalues their worth. It’s imperative that you actively seek out and encourage candidates with disabilities in your hiring process. When you hire individuals with disabilities, you expand your pool of qualified applicants, improve your team’s performance, increase your output, and establish yourself as an employer of choice.
Everyone should have the chance to do a job they’re interested in and in which their skills will be put to good use; it’s the fair and ethical thing to do. For employers, you want the best people for the job, and it shouldn’t make a difference if they are disabled. Of course, it will make some difference, but not in terms of whether or not you employ them (if they’re the best person for the job, then it’s the best thing for you and your business to have them on board). However, the difference disabled employees make will come in the way your business premises operates and how you and the rest of your staff are able to offer support and help to disabled employees if it is required.
One of the ways you can do this and ensure everyone is comfortable working in your company, and to ensure that you have the most qualified employees, whether they are disabled employees or not, is to make sure that each member of your staff has the proper first aid training.
Having the attitude that accidents won’t happen at work is simple to do. However, if you have enough time and people, something will finally come to fruition in this regard, which might be particularly problematic for disabled employees. A lack of proper training means that you are unable to respond quickly when something goes wrong, and this can make a bad situation worse or turn a minor problem into a much bigger one.
Workers are expected to get first aid that is appropriate to their circumstances, according to the Health and Safety (First Aid) Regulations (1981). In the real world, this means that construction sites need more sophisticated first aid facilities than, say, office buildings do. It also means that disabled employees need to be considered in terms of their health and how they might respond to various situations.
However, it is the individual employer that bears the most of the burden no matter what the outcome and no matter who is hurt or how badly. It’s important to note that many of the Act’s requirements are just suggestions; firms are free to abide by its spirit. However, a careless attitude might jeopardise operations and the people working for you, including disabled employees.
If you need to know more about first aid at work, whether you have disabled employees or not, then please don’t hesitate to contact us as soon as possible. We have all the answers to any of your questions, and we’ll be happy to book you and your team onto the right first aid course for you at a time that suits you.
