CWU Conference 2026: Health And Safety Fringe Meeting

 

CWU's Health & Safety Policy Adviser to the whole of the Union, Jamie McGovern hosted the CWU Conference's fringe meeting on health & safety which has been a regular event at Conference for many years.

 

The theme was Trauma Informed First Aid, a training specialism that supports First Aiders and Mental Health First Aiders; to understand this element that is often not realised or considered when addressing people in need of not only physical first aid, but also mental health first aid; as a result of the physicaal injuries they present with.

 

More significantly, people witnessing such events are often met with delayed trauma as a result of what they have been part of as someone standing -by or indeed acting to help victims.

 

Here Jamie, reports on this year's very successful H&S Fringe meeting, with link at thend so readers can download the report:

 

 

 

Trauma Informed First Aid Presentation

Looking at trauma informed responses for Physical First Aiders and Mental Health First Aiders and CWU Representatives for when dealing with impactful events and the value of peer-to-peer network support.

SPEAKERS:

From Left to Right in above photo

Catherine Arnold
Catherine is the founder of Trauma Informed First Aid UK; her research interests focus on supporting First Aiders to overcome traumatic stress. Catherine previously worked as a First Aid Trainer for the British Red Cross. She has four years of industry experience as a Public Health Scientist with an extensive CPD portfolio in community and mental health support. Catherine edits a website and newsletter on Trauma Informed First Aid. She has also written for Brake, the road safety charity and presented at the Health and Care Research 2025 conference.

Marissa Lambert

Marissa Lambert is the co-founder and Director of With-you Consultancy Ltd. She is a Registered Mental Health Nurse, with 25 years’ experience of working for the NHS in a variety of settings. Marissa led the peer training team at the Institute of Mental Health for 10 years. She worked for Nottinghamshire Healthcare NHSFT with responsibility for developing the national apprenticeship standard for Peer Workers and more recently as the Clinical Skills and Education Lead, managed a Trust wide mental health portfolio. She has particular interest and specialism in resilience-based supervision, trauma-informed approaches and support structures, including peer networks. She holds extensive experience of co-designing and developing innovative programmes.

Discussion slides SNAPSHOT selection below

The type of support to consider in scenario situations above is exampled in the support triangle below.

 

Thanks, on behalf of the CWU have been offered to CATHERINE ARNOLD from trauma informed first aid UK and MARISSA LAMBERT from the With-You consultancy on their powerful and valuable contributions at the CWU communication workers union conference 2026 Health & Safety fringe meeting.

Vicarious trauma and traumatic impact are so very real for many trade union Reps MHFAiders First Aiders in an ever-changing world of work.

The value and need of peer-to-peer support networks was evident at the CWU H&S Fringe meeting by the comments, Questions and Appreciation of the information presented by 2 expert guest speakers at the start of Mental Health Awareness Week 2026.

Marissa and Catherine presented together on their upcoming webinar ‘Peer Support for First Aiders’, which has been developed in collaboration between Trauma Informed First Aid (TIFA) and With-you, bringing together our dual expertise and exploring peer support as a vital option for post-incident follow-up support for members of the public or public facing workers who have witnessed an emergency. 

The webinar responds to an increasing recognition that serious emergencies can have a lasting psychological impact on bystanders and First Aiders, yet support pathways are rarely available and explores the following

* How safe, relational spaces help people to process, heal and personally recover from traumatic emergencies

* The emotional and psychological impact of providing First Aid, particularly following resuscitation attempts or serious incidents 

* Trauma-informed approaches as part of responsible First Aid culture 

* Distinctions between roles Bystanders, First Aid, Volunteer First Response, and Professional Emergency Services 

* Introducing key principles within peer support values and practice 

* Scope for a National First Aider Peer Support Network 
 
This free webinar is open to all those providing informal or volunteer first aid/responder roles including, workplace First Aiders, Mental Health First Aiders and members of the public who have witnessed or responded to traumatic incidents, including cardiac arrests, suicide attempts, road traffic collisions and serious injuries. 

 

 We also encourage Health and Safety representatives across different sectors who would like to explore options to support their staff.

Click here to register your place: Peer Support for First Aiders – Introductory Webinar 2026

 

Post Traumatic Wellbeing support can be accessed via this link below, Trauma Informed First Aid UK have supported and collaborated with the CWU to help with the production of this guidance.

https://sway.cloud.microsoft/MPjfkbfChb3R2dgD?ref=Link

Download this report in PDF format here

Source: Jamie McGovern, CWU Health & Safety Policy Adviser