First aid in the workplace, and your obligations

Under the Victorian OHS Act, 2004, the employer has a legal duty to: ‘Provide, so far as is reasonably practicable, adequate facilities for the welfare of employees at any workplace under the control and management of the employer’ What does this mean in terms of first aid?

Compliance can be a mind field, SafetyZone@YCM has set out some of the important issues of where and how first aid should be carried out in your workplace, for further information call Lindsay or Wally on 5221 2611.

What is your legal duty?

Under the Victorian OHS Act, 2004, the employer has a legal duty to:

‘Provide, so far as is reasonably practicable, adequate facilities for the welfare of employees at any workplace under the control and management of the employer’ (Section 21[2][d])

What does this mean in terms of first aid?

The new Compliance Code for First aid in the workplace will give guidance on what the Act does not cover specifically. Which you can find at www.worksafe.vic.gov.au

The Code provides two options on how to comply:

• Option 1: the “Prescribed Approach” – with detailed guidance on how to comply with the Act, including the number of first aid officers, their duties and training; the number of first aid kits and their contents; and the number of first aid rooms and their requirements. It’s suggested that this might be the approach for workplaces with 10 or more employees, or workplaces with few than 10 employees with a higher level of risk.
• Option 2: the “Risk Assessment Approach” – this involves assessing the workplace and the hazards to make appropriate decisions about what first aid requirements are needed. By law, so far as is reasonably practicable, employers must consult with health and safety representatives and employees on a range of matters that directly affect (or are likely to directly affect) their health and safety. This includes consultation on first aid needs, first aid training and to any procedures related to first aid.

Prescribed Approach – Option 1:

Employers who follow the guidance provided in the Code under this section will be considered to have complied with their duties under the Act. The section starts discussing of ‘low-risk’ & ‘high-risk’ workplaces because the following sections provide different advice depending on the type of workplace.

Low-risk (eg offices, banks, libraries, most retail operations):

• No exposure to hazards that could result in a serious injury/illness (as described below) requiring immediate medical attention
• The business is located where medical assistance/ambulance services are readily available

High-risk:

• Potential exposure to hazards that could result in a serious injury/illness requiring immediate medical attention. Examples include amputation of any part of the body; serious head or eye injury; de-gloving; electric shock; spinal injury; loss of a bodily function; serious lacerations

First Aid Officers

Low-risk workplaces:

• One First aid officer for 10 – 50 workers
• Two First aid officers for 51 – 100 workers
• One additional for every additional 100 workers

Low-risk workplaces with fewer than 10 employees

A low-risk micro-business complies with its duties to provide first aid by providing a first aid kit that includes the contents set out below.

High-risk workplaces:

• One First aid officer for up to 25 workers
• Two First aid officers for 26 to 50 workers
• One additional for every additional 50 workers

Where employees don’t have timely access to medical/ambulance services (eg in remote, isolated or mobile workplaces) then compliance means at least one first aid officer for every 10 employees. This is a risk which needs to be considered and calculated.

First Aid Training

• Minimal acceptable level of training for workplace first aid officers: senior first aid certificate (often referred to as a level 2 first aid qualification) – or its competency based equivalent HLTFA301B Apply First Aid
• Higher-risk workplaces may require first aid officers who have completed occupational first aid training (often referred to as a level 3 first aid qualification) – or its competency based equivalent HLTFA402B Apply Advanced First Aid
• If a workplace is large and diverse, or has a complex range of OHS hazards, then the employer needs to choose Option 2 (Risk assessment approach) to determine the appropriate level of first aid training based on a risk assessment.

Employers need to ensure qualifications are current, make sure all certificates and information is recorded as part of your administrative controls.

First Aid Kits

Location and quantity

• Low risk workplaces:
  • One kit for 10 to 50 employees
  • One additional kit for every additional 50 employees up to 200
  • After 200, one additional kit for every addition 100 employees
• Higher-risk workplaces:
  • One kit, including specific first aid modules, for up to 25 employees
  • Two kits, with specific modules, for up to 50 employees
  • One additional kit, with specific modules, for every additional 50 employees

Where there isn’t timely access to medical/ambulance services then compliance means at least one first aid kit for every 25 employees. Employees in remote, isolated or mobile workplaces need to have access to appropriate first aid kits.

Where there are separate work areas, it may be appropriate to locate first aid facilities centrally, and provide portable kits in each work area. This may include motor vehicles.

The Container of the First aid kit – needs to protect the contents of the kit from dust and damage. If additional modules are needed, the container should be large enough, preferably to hold them in separate compartments. The container needs to be recognisable (eg with a white cross on a green background and clearly marked as ‘First aid kit’) and should not be locked.

Contents of Kit

What is appropriate will vary according to the workplace and you should consider what is being done in the workplace which may require specialist equipment. Employers need to ensure that kits are adequately stocked for their workplace. This should be check regularly and should be a designated responsibility for an employee as some things done have use by dates. A kit needs to include:

• basic first aid notes
• disposable gloves
• resuscitation mask
• individually wrapped sterile adhesive dressings
• sterile eye pads (packet)
• sterile coverings for serious wounds
• triangular bandages
• safety pins
• small, medium and large sterile un-medicated wound dressings
• non-allergenic tape
• rubber thread or crepe bandage
• scissors
• tweezers
• suitable book for recording details of first aid provided. Do not forget responsibilities and obligations under WorkCover.
• sterile saline solution
• plastic bags for disposal

The name and telephone number of workplace first aid officers, and the phone number and address of the emergency services should be either in or near each first aid kit. Often it is a good idea depending on the site to have all the information on a laminated sheet readily available.

Reusable items (such as scissors and tweezers) need to be thoroughly cleaned using warm soapy water or an alcohol swab after each use. While some items can be obtained in disposable form, these are often not as effective as the metal type and are not considered a standard item.

The employer needs to assess whether additional first aid kit modules are required where particular hazards exist. Some examples of commonly needed additional modules are those dealing with eyes, burns and remote workplaces – see Worksafe Compliance Code Appendix E for details.