Royal Mail first aid faces threat of outsourcing

Unions are fighting plans, announced by some managers without consultation last month, to outsource first aid training at Royal Mail.

Royal Mail's 5,000 legally qualified first aid volunteers are currently trained in-house. The proposals will affect almost 200 trainers, assessors and coaches, most of whom are members of the communication unions CWU and CMA.

"First aid is one of those precious, fundamental safety net provisions, invisible most of the time and taken for granted by most, but it is important to remember that accidents can and do happen at any time and our first-aiders deal with life-threatening conditions and injuries each year," said CWU health and safety officer Dave Joyce. "The CWU is opposing the outsourcing proposal and fully supporting our first-aider members."