First Aid-Lesson 2-Persons conducting a business or undertaking (PCBUs)
Duty holders who have a role in first aid include
- Persons conducting a business or undertaking (PCBUs)
- Designers, manufacturers, importers, suppliers and installers of plant, substances, or structures, and
- Officers.
Workers and other persons at the workplace also have duties under the WHS Act, such as taking reasonable care for their own health and safety. A person can have more than one duty, and more than one person can have the same duty at the same time. Early consultation and risk identification can enable more options for eliminating or minimising them, reducing associated costs.
PCBUs have the primary duty under the WHS Act. In general terms, this duty requires PCBUs (persons conducting a business or undertaking) to ensure, so far as is reasonably practicable, that workers and other persons are not exposed to health and safety risks arising from the business or undertaking.
WHS Act section 28 – Duties of workers
Workers have a duty to take reasonable care for their own health and safety and not adversely affect the health and safety of other persons. Workers must comply with reasonable instructions, to the extent reasonably possible, and cooperate with reasonable health and safety policies or procedures notified to workers, for example, procedures for first aid and reporting injuries and illnesses.
First aid requirements will vary from one workplace to the next, depending on the nature of the work, the types of hazards, the workplace size and location, and the number of people at the workplace. These factors must be considered when deciding on the first-aid arrangements to be provided.
This Code provides information on using a risk management approach to tailor first aid to your workplace’s circumstances, while also providing guidance on the number of first aid kits, their contents, and the number of trained first aiders appropriate for certain workplaces.
The risk management approach involves the following steps:
Identify hazards that could result in work-related injury or illness.
- Does the nature of the work being carried out pose a risk to people’s health and safety?
- Have these risks been identified in the work that is being carried out?
- Do any workers or others have pre-existing medical conditions?
- Has the incident, injury and illness data been reviewed?
- Have you consulted with workers and their health and safety representatives?
- Is specialist or external assistance required?
Assess the type, severity and likelihood of injuries and illness.
- How often does a risk have the potential to cause harm?
- What types of injuries or illnesses would the risks cause?
- How serious are the injuries or illnesses?
- Does the number and composition of workers and other people affect how first aid should be provided?
- Could the size or location of the workplace affect how first aid is provided?
Provide the appropriate first aid equipment, facilities, and training.
- How many first aiders are needed?
- What competencies do they require?
- What training do they need?
- What kits/modules are needed and where should they be located?
- Is any other first aid equipment needed?
- Who is responsible for maintaining the kits?
- Is a first aid room or health centre required?
- What procedures are needed for the workplace?
Review your first-aid requirements regularly, or as circumstances change.
Guidance on the general risk management process is available in the Code of Practice: How to manage work health and safety risks.
WHS Act section 29 – Duties of other persons at the workplace
Other persons at the workplace, such as visitors, must take reasonable care of their own health and safety and must not adversely affect other people’s health and safety. They must comply, so far as they are reasonably able, with reasonable instructions given by the PCBU (persons conducting a business or undertaking) to allow that person to comply with the WHS Act.
A PCBU (persons conducting a business or undertaking) must ensure:
- Provision of first aid equipment.
- Each worker at the workplace has access to the equipment.
- Access to facilities for administering first aid, and
- An adequate number of workers are trained to administer first aid, or workers have access to an adequate number of trained first-aid providers.
o meet your duty as a person conducting a business or undertaking (PCBU) to provide access to first aid equipment, facilities and trained first aiders, you must have regard to all relevant matters, including the following:
- The nature of the work being carried out at the workplace.
- The nature of the hazards at the workplace.
- The size and location of the workplace, and
- The number and composition of the workers and other persons at the workplace.
Summary of recommended first aid requirements
| kplace | First aiders | First aid kits | First aid rooms |
| High-risk workplaces | One first aider for every 50 workers | Basic first aid kit | Recommended for 200 workers or more |
| High risk workplaces | One first aider for every 25 workers | Basic first aid kit plus additional equipment identified for specific risks | Recommended for 100 workers or more |
| Low-risk workplaces | One first aider for every 10 workers | Remote high-risk workplaces | In addition to the basic first aid kit, a heavy-duty 10 cm crepe bandage for snake bites, large clean sheeting for covering burns, a thermal blanket for treating shock, a whistle for attracting attention, a torch/flashlight, and any equipment identified for specific risks. |