Sheet 02 of 05Item: the check card
Keeping a first aid kit checked and in order
Two state codes set out who keeps a kit and how often it is checked. Tasmania’s adopted code asks for a nominated person, usually a first aider, to check it after each use, or at least once every 12 months if it has not been used; Victoria’s compliance code says kits should be checked quarterly and after every event requiring first aid.
General information, not medical or legal advice. In an emergency, call Triple Zero (000). For what applies to your workplace, read your own state’s code and the model Code of Practice.
Responsibility
Who looks after the kit
Tasmania’s adopted code says someone at the workplace, usually a first aider, should be nominated to look after the kit, and gives that person three jobs:
- keep track of what is used, and replace used items as soon as practicable afterwards
- check the kit regularly, after each use or, if it has not been used, at least once every 12 months, so that it holds a complete set of the items it needs, and sign and date the kit’s inventory list after each check
- make sure items work, have not deteriorated and are within their expiry dates, and that sterile products are still sealed and have not been tampered with
Victoria’s compliance code uses the term first aid officer: a person who has completed appropriate training, keeps it current, and has been nominated by the employer to do that job in the workplace. Where possible, it says, employers need to make sure at least one first aid officer is available at the workplace at any one time during operating times.
Intervals
How often to check
| Code | When to check |
|---|---|
| Tasmania: adopted Code of Practice | After each use; if the kit is not used, at least once every 12 months. |
| Victoria: Compliance code | Quarterly, and after every event requiring first aid. |
The gap between them is real. A Victorian workplace following its compliance code checks its kits four times a year, while Tasmania’s code sets once a year as the least for a kit nobody has opened. Both add a check after the kit is needed: Tasmania’s after each use, Victoria’s after every event requiring first aid.
What counts as a complete set depends on what the kit was meant to hold, which goes back to the workplace’s risk assessment and the model Code’s example list, covered on the sheet for what goes in a workplace kit.
Location
Keeping it where people can find it
A checked kit still has to be reachable. Safe Work Australia’s words are that “workers must be able to access first aid equipment and facilities at all times”. Tasmania’s adopted code asks for kits in a prominent, accessible place where they can be fetched quickly. Victoria’s compliance code adds a duty about people as well as places: employers must give employees enough instruction to find a kit when it is needed.
Kits travel, too. Safe Work Australia’s list of where a workplace kit should be includes “inside work vehicles if workers travel for their job”.
In South Australia, SafeWork SA says first aid, both access to it and its provision, must cost workers and first aiders nothing.
Review
When the work changes
Tasmania’s adopted code says first aid requirements differ between workplaces with the kind of work done, the hazards involved, the workplace’s size and location, and how many people are there. When any of those change, so may the kit.
Safe Work Australia says workers should be consulted on the first aid risk assessment and that it should be reviewed regularly. The NSW code makes it a must: workers must be consulted when deciding what equipment and facilities are needed for administering first aid.
Everyone’s part
Not only the keeper’s job
The NSW code spreads the duty wider than one person. Officers, such as company directors, must exercise due diligence, which includes taking reasonable steps to make sure the business has and uses suitable processes for meeting its duty to provide first aid. Workers, for their part, must follow reasonable instructions as far as they reasonably can, and cooperate with health and safety policies and procedures they have been told about, the code naming procedures for first aid and for reporting injuries and illnesses as examples.
Put together across the two codes: workers cooperate with the first aid procedures they have been told about, as the NSW code asks, and the nominated keeper checks the kit after each use, as Tasmania’s code asks.
The defibrillator
Looking after an AED
An AED on the wall needs looking after as well. In South Australia, SA Health says:
“All AEDs installed for the purpose of the Act must be registered, clearly signed, and be regularly maintained as per the manufacturer’s instructions.”
SA Health, AED requirements for public buildings and facilities
If an AED’s location or accessibility times change, SA Health says the South Australian register must be updated within two weeks. SafeWork SA says AEDs should be kept somewhere clearly visible and accessible, not exposed to extreme temperatures, clearly signed, and maintained to the manufacturer’s specifications.
For an AED kept in a vehicle, the Queensland Ambulance Service says not to keep it in a locked cabinet or container that needs a key or code, and that an AED not fixed in place should always be returned to its usual location after use. Mounting heights, signs and registers are on the sheet for defibrillators in public places; what the machine does is on defibrillators explained.