Christmas is just around the corner, and no doubt many of you are planning your festive season parties. But did you know that headaches, dehydration and alcohol related accidents account for 70 percent of first aid incidents during Christmas events?
According to St John Ambulance Victoria deputy CEO Theron Vassiliou, whilst whacky incidents do happen at Christmas, businesses need to keep employees safe at the many corporate events that happen around this time.
“Common incidents include cuts and wounds from people falling in games and activities. And while we hope they don’t occur, businesses should be prepared to respond to more serious incidents like diabetic episodes.”
If businesses are holding festive events, they have a responsibility to keep employees safe, which may be as simple as organising St John responders as part of a first aid post or organising for a staff member to be trained in first aid.
Vassiliou says employers should have an understanding of employee dietary and medical requirements, and should remind workers to bring medication such as asthma relievers.
“It is also important to serve food with drinks and encourage moderate alcohol consumption. An idea could be to organise servers to hand out bottles of water to keep hydration levels up.”
