Four in 10 Mental Health First Aiders have supported a colleague experiencing suicidal thoughts

More than four in 10 Mental Health First Aiders have supported someone experiencing thoughts of suicide in their role, but many employers still lack a clear process for what should happen next. 

A survey of Mental Health First Aiders, conducted by MHFA England in August 2026, found 43 per cent had supported somebody experiencing thoughts of suicide, while 79 per cent said they felt confident having a conversation with a colleague about suicidal thoughts.

However, half said their organisation did not have a clear process setting out what happens after somebody experiencing suicidal thoughts has been identified.

MHFA England said the findings point to a gap between the confidence of individuals trained to respond and the organisational systems available to support them and the colleague concerned.

The research comes nine months after the British Standards Institution (BSI) published BS 30480, Britain’s first standard specifically addressing suicide and the workplace, in November 2025.

The standard provides guidance for organisations on the management of suicide risk and aims to help employers take a more structured approach to prevention, intervention and support.

Sarah McIntosh, chief executive of MHFA England and a member of the steering committee that developed the standard, said: “The people at the frontline of this are already showing up. The opportunity now is matching that confidence with organisational readiness.”

The findings are being published ahead of World Suicide Prevention Day on 10 September and highlight an important challenge for UK workplace health and wellbeing strategies: training individuals to recognise and respond to signs of distress needs to be supported by clear organisational processes.

This includes ensuring employees and managers understand how concerns should be escalated, what support is available and where responsibility sits when somebody may be at risk.

BS 30480 was developed with input from experts including McIntosh and Julie Castleman and Hannah Buckland of Junah, who are MHFA England Instructor Members and deliver the organisation’s Suicide Prevention Training for Organisations.

Natasha Trafford – Chant, Director & Clinical Lead at WildRose Therapy said: “Training people to have conversations about suicide is vital, but we cannot place the responsibility for suicide prevention on individual employees and expect that to be enough. If someone has the confidence to ask a colleague about suicidal thoughts, they also need to know there is a psychologically safe, clearly defined system behind them.

“We also need to recognise the emotional weight of being the person who receives that answer. Managers, Mental Health First Aiders and colleagues can suddenly find themselves holding incredibly difficult information and feeling a huge sense of responsibility for what happens next. Without a clear pathway, they may be left asking: Have I done enough? Who do I tell? What if I make the wrong decision? What happens if something goes wrong?

“That is a significant mental load to place on somebody who may have had relatively limited training and is also trying to do their day job. Organisational readiness therefore needs to protect both the person experiencing suicidal thoughts and the person providing that first response. Employers need clear escalation routes, access to appropriate professional support and opportunities to debrief, alongside a culture where people feel able to say they are struggling without fear of judgement.

“Suicide prevention cannot sit with a handful of trained individuals. It has to be embedded into leadership, psychological safety and the wider health and wellbeing strategy. We cannot ask people to hold conversations about suicide and then leave them holding the emotional consequences alone.”

The findings suggest employers now have an opportunity to build on the confidence already present among trained employees by reviewing whether their wider suicide prevention framework is equipped to respond when concerns arise.

For workplace health and wellbeing leaders, this means looking beyond training in isolation towards how suicide prevention connects with organisational policy, management capability, mental health provision and pathways into appropriate professional support.

If you or someone you know needs support, Samaritans is available 24 hours a day on 116 123.