First Aid and Emergency Response on Construction Sites

About this course.

The person conducting a business or undertaking (PCBU) — typically the builder or head contractor — must ensure, so far as is reasonably practicable, that first aid is available for everyone at the workplace. Under the model Work Health and Safety (WHS) Act and Regulations, adopted in most states and territories, this means providing adequate first-aid equipment, facilities and access to trained first-aiders, and ensuring workers know how to use them. The PCBU must also prepare, maintain and practise emergency plans. Victoria operates under its own Occupational Health and Safety Act 2004, administered by WorkSafe Victoria, with equivalent duties. This course is awareness-level CPD only, not first-aid certification.

To locate this duty correctly, it helps to recall how the Australian WHS system is structured. Safe Work Australia develops the model WHS Act, the model WHS Regulations and the model Codes of Practice, but it does not enforce them. The model laws take effect only when a state or territory adopts them, and enforcement is carried out by that jurisdiction's WHS regulator — for example SafeWork NSW, Workplace Health and Safety Queensland, WorkSafe WA, SafeWork SA, WorkSafe Tasmania, WorkSafe ACT and NT WorkSafe. Most jurisdictions have adopted the model WHS laws (Western Australia did so later than the eastern states), but Victoria retains its own Occupational Health and Safety Act 2004 and regulations, enforced by WorkSafe Victoria. The practical effect is that the core first-aid and emergency duties are broadly consistent across the country, but the precise wording, some details and the way requirements are expressed differ, so practitioners must confirm what applies where they work.