Workplace First Aid in Australia: Kits, First Aiders and WHS Duties

A workplace first aid plan should answer a practical question: if someone is injured or suddenly becomes ill during the work your people actually do, can appropriate help reach them promptly? A kit in an office cabinet is only one part of that answer. The business also needs people who can use the equipment, a way to contact them, facilities suited to the risks and arrangements that still work on night shifts, at remote sites and when the usual first aider is away.

This guide uses the Australian model work health and safety framework as a starting point. It is not a statement that every model provision applies word for word in every state. Safe Work Australia explains that jurisdictions enact and administer their own laws, with variations. Victoria uses its own occupational health and safety legislation and first aid compliance code. Check the regulator for the workplace before applying a model rule or code as a local legal requirement.

What does the model WHS law require?

Under model WHS regulation 42, a person conducting a business or undertaking must ensure that first aid equipment is provided for the workplace and that each worker has access to it. Workers must also have access to facilities for administering first aid. The model regulation requires an adequate number of workers trained to administer first aid, or access to an adequate number of other trained people.

The model rule does not stop at buying a standard kit. It says the business must consider the nature of the work, the hazards, the size and location of the workplace, and the number and composition of workers and others there. These factors explain why an office, a construction site, a mobile maintenance team and an isolated worksite can need different arrangements.

The Safe Work Australia first aid guidance recommends assessing first aid needs, making equipment and trained people accessible, and reviewing the arrangements. Its model Code of Practice: First aid in the workplace gives more detail on kits, procedures, facilities and training. A model code becomes an approved code with legal effect only when the relevant jurisdiction approves it. Even then, a code is practical guidance for meeting duties rather than a free-standing substitute for the local Act and regulations.

Start with a first aid needs assessment

Walk through the work rather than filling in a headcount alone. List the tasks, places and times when people work. Identify credible injuries or illnesses that may require immediate help. A site with chemical splashes may need equipment and training different from an office whose main foreseeable injuries are minor cuts and strains. A remote crew may face a long delay before ambulance assistance arrives. A lone worker needs a way to call for help even if no colleague is present.

The assessment should include contractors, labour hire workers, volunteers and visitors where they may be affected by the work arrangements. Consider how many people are at a site at the busiest time, who is on each shift, the distance between work areas, and whether access roads or mobile coverage could delay emergency services. Discuss foreseeable events with workers and health and safety representatives where applicable. Safe Work Australia identifies workplace hazards, size, location and the people present as key factors.

Record the decision in plain terms: the identified first aid needs, the kit locations and contents, who can administer first aid, how to summon them, and when the arrangement will be reviewed. The record should be useful to the people working on site, not a claim that a template automatically proves compliance.

How many first aiders do you need?

There is no sensible Australia-wide statutory headcount to paste onto every workplace. The model regulation asks for an adequate number based on the work and the people present. Safe Work Australia's guidance suggests one first aider for every 50 workers in low-risk workplaces, one for every 25 in high-risk workplaces and one for every 10 in remote high-risk workplaces. Those are planning recommendations in national guidance, not a statement that all jurisdictions impose those exact numbers as a universal legal rule. Victoria's compliance code has its own prescribed and risk-assessment approaches.

Ask whether a trained person is present whenever work is being done. Four trained people on a personnel list may still leave a night shift uncovered. One person may be on leave or in another building when needed. Account for breaks, absence, overtime, travel, shift overlap and separate work areas. Where several businesses share a workplace, a shared arrangement can be considered, but responsibilities and practical access should be clear. The injured person cannot wait while businesses argue about whose first aider is on duty.

Use the Complys first-aiders planning tool to organise a headcount discussion, then test the output against actual rosters, hazards and local regulator guidance. A calculator cannot determine whether a particular site has met its legal duty.

Choose and position first aid kits

The model first aid code and Safe Work Australia guidance recommend at least one readily accessible kit and more where the workplace is spread out or work moves between locations. Contents should follow the needs assessment. A vehicle used for field work may need its own kit because the main workplace kit is not accessible when the worker is away. A hazardous chemical task may call for additional equipment based on the substance and first aid instructions.

Make kits easy to find and keep them maintained. Someone should be responsible for checking whether supplies have been used, expired or damaged and for replacing them. Workers should know where to find the kit without needing to ask the absent supervisor. Positioning also matters: a kit locked in a room that is closed after office hours does not help a night shift. Consider whether an injury could prevent the worker reaching the kit and whether another person can bring it.

A purchased kit labelled “workplace compliant” does not settle the assessment. Its standard contents may not suit the particular hazards. Review the manufacturer's instructions and relevant safety data sheets where substances are involved, and check whether extra equipment or specific training is needed.

Decide whether extra facilities are needed

Some workplaces need more than a portable kit. The model code discusses first aid rooms, emergency showers, eyewash equipment and access to medical services as possible responses to the assessed risks. The need depends on the work, location, number of people and likely delay before outside help arrives. Do not state that every business over a single headcount must build the same room. Safe Work Australia's first aid page gives recommendations, while the relevant regulator determines the local framework.

Check that the facility remains usable. An eyewash point obstructed by stored equipment or lacking water when a task starts is not a reliable control. A first aid room can lose its purpose if it becomes general storage. Include access and maintenance in normal workplace checks.

Train people for the risks, not only the roster

Safe Work Australia says first aiders should hold a nationally recognised statement of attainment from a registered training organisation and undertake regular training to keep knowledge current. Extra training may be appropriate for remote work, particular dangerous substances, specialist equipment or other assessed needs. Verify the course and currency required for the actual role and jurisdiction. This page does not verify an individual's certificate.

Make the names and contact method easy for workers to find. A poster in the main office may not reach a mobile crew. Include first aid arrangements in inductions, shift handovers and contractor briefings. People should know how to summon a first aider, when to call emergency services, and how to direct responders to the location. Training is most useful when the response system around the trained person works.

Write a short, usable response procedure

A procedure should tell people what to do in the first minutes, without encouraging untrained people to perform treatment beyond their ability. Identify who raises an alarm, how to contact emergency services, who gives first aid, where equipment is kept, how access is opened for responders and who coordinates the scene. If the work is remote, include the location information responders will need. If communication can fail, specify a backup means of summoning help.

Link this procedure to the broader emergency plan, but keep first aid arrangements visible. Emergency evacuation and first aid can happen together. A person might be unable to evacuate without help, or a first aider may need to move to a safe place before treating them. The response should not expose helpers to an uncontrolled hazard.

After an event, replenish used supplies and review whether the response worked. Use any incident reporting process that applies, but do not confuse a first aid treatment record with the separate legal tests for notifiable incidents. A minor treatment does not automatically trigger regulator notification, and the need to notify cannot be decided by a kit checklist.

Example: an office with a remote field team

An employer has an office open during normal hours and a two-person maintenance team that visits customer sites. The office kit and trained receptionist do not automatically cover the field team. The assessment should ask whether the team carries suitable equipment, how it can call for help, what hazards it may face at customer premises and whether either worker has appropriate training. It should also test who covers the office when the receptionist is away.

The resulting plan may give the field team a vehicle kit, contact procedure and training suited to its work, while locating the office kit and first-aider information where all office shifts can use them. That is an example of how to assess the problem. It is not a universal instruction for every maintenance business.

Review when work changes

Review the arrangement when headcount, shifts, site layout, hazards or response times change. A new substance may require different first aid provisions. An expansion into a second building may make the old kit too far away. Contracting out a service may alter who is present on site. Check whether named first aiders have left, changed shifts or need updated training. Test access to equipment and emergency contact information during inspections.

For wider planning, evaluate Complys Australian WHS software. This is a commercial destination for readers managing health and safety information.