First Aid Obligations For Workplaces
The average person will spend approximately 90,000 hours, or one third of their life, at work. Businesses are required to ensure (under the WHS Act) that workers and other persons are not exposed to health and safety risks arising from the business or undertaking. Specific obligations includes:
- Provision of emergency equipment such as nurse call systems, defibrillators, first aid kits, and emergency alert communication devices (evacuation sirens)
- Ease of access to these facilities; for example they can’t be in a locked room or limited security space within the building
- An adequate number of workers trained to administer first aid at the workplace or that workers have access to an adequate number of other people who have been trained to administer first aid
Management have a duty to exercise due diligence to ensure that the business is complying with regulations. Workers have a duty to take reasonable care for their own health and safety and must not
adversely affect the health and safety of other persons. Everyone on site must comply with any
reasonable instruction and cooperate with any reasonable policy or procedure relating to
health and safety at the workplace, such as procedures for first aid and for reporting injuries
and illnesses.
