Environmental Impact – Towards Net Zero

Updated April 22nd 2024

First Aid Training Co-operative was founded on values that place our responsibility towards both people and planet at the top of our agenda. We are a co-operative business for good reason that is explored elsewhere on our site and we’ve always sought to reduce our environmental impact wherever possible.

Recently however, we’ve taken some more concrete steps that we believe will make a real difference in minimising the environmental impact that we have as a business, and we’re pleased to update this blog on World Earth Day 2024 with the news that we’ve been awarded a Gold For Our Planet Award in recognition of the steps we’ve taken to reduce our environmental impact!

Measuring First Aid Training Co-operative’s Environmental Impact

The first step in making changes is always to find out where you are currently. For that reason we have reviewed work done to date, and done a lot of work with the support of Ecologi, in measuring the emissions produced by our current operation.

First Aid Training Co-operative’s Historical Reduction Measures

Over the 9 years since we founded the First Aid Training Co-operative by joining together two smaller first aid businesses, we have made good progress with some easy wins, and invested heavily into new innovations, that have made a big difference to our carbon footprint.

• Creation of Digital First Aid Manuals. Our suite of digital first aid manuals was first published in 2016 and significantly reduced our paper usage, printer usage, and use of postal and courier services.   As well as the environmental benefits, the manuals are interactive and significantly help avoid skill fade, easily updateable as regulations and first aid advice changes, and can be more easily shared with a greater number of people too. 
• Online Registration Process. Using our LMS software we moved all clients over to an online registration process.  This saves considerable paper, and is much more efficient, meaning less energy consumed in our offices.
• Creation of a Digital Trainer’s App. Working with partner software developers, FATC has created a Trainer’s application to allow trainers to manage all aspects of on-course administration and assessment to be carried out digitally.   This removes the need to use paper, printing ink, couriers for delivery, etc.  The Trainer App also significantly improves our office administration efficiency, which in turn helps to reduce the energy consumed in doing so.
• Team Uniforms. All team uniforms are sustainably sourced from suppliers that prioritise recycled materials and ethical working practices.
• Team Travel Mugs. All personnel have been supplied with a re-useable and spill proof thermal travel mug for use whilst working and/or travelling, reducing the temptation to use single use beverage cups.
• Best practice on reducing the use of disposable course resources.
• Trainers are facilitated in sharing of best practice techniques for reducing the use of disposable items on courses.  For example, a laminating station is provided at our AGM each year where trainers can laminate copies of regularly used resources in order to significantly extend their life.   Trainers use either re-useable flip chart pads, or recycled paper versions depending on their preference.
• Trainer Allocation.  Our general principle is to always assign the closest most suitable trainer to a course.  In order to do this, we continuously grow our team to satisfy demand across the country.   

Measuring Our Current Emissions

Using Ecologi’s clever software for small businesses that uses our accounting software to track our emissions and the emissions generated by our suppliers, we are able to measure our annual emissions like never before possible. This software is still (at the time of writing) in a Beta phase, and we’ve been working with Ecologi to help them develop it to make it even more useable and useful for the small business owner.

We publish our emissions for the previous year on the Environmental Impact page of our website, where we also publish our environmental impact report for anyone to download and read. This breaks down our emissions into different areas and shows how much we are producing in each, providing transparency to our reporting.

First Aid Training Co-operative, a Carbon Neutral Business

Knowing how much Co2 we produce each year through unavoidable emissions allows us to purchase carbon credits through Gold Standard, and Verified Carbon Standard projects that are proven (and externally audited) to have a positive impact on the environment. These offset our operation as a business, through investment in a variety of schemes that cover community initiatives, renewables projects, sustainable transport improvements, and restoration of vital wetland habitats, all meaning that we are a Carbon Neutral business, which is a fantastic place to be and something that we’re very proud of!

First Aid Training Co-operative, ISO 14001 Certified

Having long been an ISO 9001 Quality Management certified business, in the first half of 2023 we underwent the auditing process required for ISO 14001 Environmental Management, and ISO 45001 Health & Safety Management standards. Our auditors provided us with the certification with ease, having identified no major gaps and only requiring us to integrate the standards into our existing management system, and communicate the certification which we are doing today. This is a really positive reinforcement of the good work that we’ve done to date.

Leading the way in the First Aid Training Sector

We are proud to run the First Aid Conference every two years, an event aimed at First Aid Training Providers from Scotland and Northern England, bringing them together to do some valuable CPD, Networking and Sharing of Best Practice. This year the theme of the conference was sustainability and we went to every length to ensure that the event was run with zero waste and in as environmentally conscious way as possible. In so doing we hoped to demonstrate that this is possible, and maybe to inspire delegates and exhibitors to try and do the same.

Reducing Our Environmental Impact Further

All of the work we’ve done to date has been worthwhile because it has made a measurable impact on reducing our emissions. There is however much more work to be done. We want to reduce the amount that we are having to offset through purchasing carbon credits to the absolute minimum.

Our Environmental Impact Policy sets out the ways in which we will seek to reduce our emissions further in the months and years to come. These aims have to be pragmatic and practical, meaning that they are realistically deliverable. They must also be time bound so that we are held to account and can make measurable improvements each year.

Helping Our Clients Reduce Their Environmental Impact

You can read about the ways that we are incentivising our team members to make climate positive choices in our Environmental Impact Policy. However, we can make an even bigger difference by helping our clients to make more sustainable choices and helping them to offset the emissions generated through their course with us if they’d like to.

Sustainable Travel Choices

We are working to improve the information that is contained on our website about each venue we use for our public first aid courses. This will include a way of filtering for public transport accessible venues, and going forward, we will prioritise venues that are easily accessible by public transport. Note: This is not always possible, especially for our equestrian courses that often take place in very rural areas, but by prioritising it, its one of the first things we’ll assess when choosing a new venue.

Offsetting Course Emissions

We currently publish an average quantity of emissions produced per training day on our Environmental Impact page, allowing you to purchase carbon credits through your own system, or through Ecologi as we do.

In the coming months, we’re also going to add a similar system to our checkout, enabling you to purchase credits to offset your individual course place, if you’re attending one of our public courses.

Continual Improvements

As mentioned above, we have to be realistic about what is achievable. Making small but important steps each year towards minimising our impact, whilst maintaining a financially sustainable, as well as environmentally sustainable business is the key. With that approach in mind we’ve included significant funding from within our budget to go towards making these improvements, and incentivising our team and clients to make sustainable choices everyday.

We hope that this resonates with your values and you value the importance that we place on the environment. If you have any further ideas of ways we could help you, we’d love to hear them.