PARLIAMENTARY EARLY DAY MOTION
MENTAL HEALTH FIRST AID (9 October 2016)

That this House notes with concern that the current first aid legislation fails to make adequate provision for mental ill health; further notes that the Health and Safety (First-Aid) Regulations 1981 neglect the mental health of employees, and that the examples of health problems requiring first aid in the Health and Safety Executive's Guidance on the Regulations relate exclusively to physical health; acknowledges that the Management of Health and Safety at Work Regulations 1999 refer to the risk of stress-related ill health arising from work activities, but that this does not address mental health issues caused by factors outside of work but which may nevertheless affect health and wellbeing in the workplace; recognises that only 43 per cent of people with mental health problems are in employment, compared to 74 per cent of the general population and 65 per cent of people with other health conditions, with the cost of mental illness to the economy estimated at around £105 billion annually; believes that addressing mental health more effectively in the workplace, in order to help people recover and avoid people falling out of work, must be a key public policy objective; and therefore urges the Government to commit to the principle of equality for mental health in the workplace by amending first aid regulations and guidance to require every organisation to have trained Mental Health First Aiders, and to ensure that employers are aware that their first aid obligations relate both to physical and mental health issues.

Sponsored by:
Norman Lamb (Liberal Democrat)