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July 2012
I n t roduct ion
Every state and te rr itor y in Austra lia has an OH&S Act. Wh ils t
statement s, in these Acts may va ry , the intent is the same. Th is intent,
under the va rious Ac ts, i s to “
p rov ide and ma inta in so far as is
pract icab le fo r emp loyees, a wo rk ing envi ronment that i s safe and
without ri sks to hea lth ” .
The prov is ion of f ir st a id requ irements is a duty of ca re in meeting the
Act. Adequate facil ities for the we lfare of emp loyees at the workp lace
may include app ropr iat e fist a id fac i lit ies and su itab l y t ra ined pe rsons.
There a re simp le steps that can be taken to identif y the fi rst a id
requ i rement s at a work p lace:
Undertake a ri sk assessment o f the wo rkp lace to ident ify the
like lihood of in ju res, the i r li ke ly f requency and seve rit y
(check safety check lis ts, incident repor ts and in ju ry
reg is ters for th is purpose)
Consu lt with emp loyees to determine the ir parti cu la r needs
and the like ly needs of the pub li c who may ente r the
workp lace.
Decide on the requ i rements o f the wor kp lace and in itiate a
p lan both meet
t he requ i rement
and mon ito r its
effecti veness over t ime.