WorkCover NSW information - FIRST AID

The specific obligations for a person conducting a business or undertaking (PCBU - the new term that includes employers) for first aid in the workplace are to ensure:

• the provision of first aid equipment
• that each worker must have access to the equipment
• an adequate number of workers are trained to administer first aid or workers have access to an adequate number of people who have been trained to administer first aid
• workers have access to facilities for the administration of first aid.

A PCBU has the primary duty to ensure, so far as is reasonably practicable, that workers and other persons are not exposed to health and safety risks.

First aid requirements will vary from one workplace to the next. In order to assess how to best provide for first aid in a workplace, a PCBU must consider all relevant factors including the:

• nature of the work being carried out at the workplace
• nature of the hazards at the workplace
• size and location of the workplace
• number and composition of workers and others at the workplace.

The draft code of practice First Aid in the Workplace provides practical guidance for the provision of appropriate first aid in the workplace including first aid training, first aid kits, procedures and facilities.