New first aid Code of Practice for SA

SafeWork SA recently announced the approval of a new Code of Practice for First Aid in the Workplace, which will come into effect in December 2010.

SA businesses will have 12 months to acquaint themselves with the Code and comply with its requirements - which may involve updating their first aid kits and their staff training.

The new Code provides a more contemporary and best-practice approach to first aid, gives workplaces more flexibility to tailor their first aid arrangements to suit their type of business and better aligns South Australia with provisions interstate.

“An extensive two-year consultation by SafeWork SA revealed that existing workplace first aid kits were often too big, not relevant to the individual workplace needs and resulted in considerable wastage,” said Executive Director, Michele Patterson. “Under the new Code, first aid kits can be smaller, will cover more types of injuries and should reduce wastage.

“The review also revealed that South Australian requirements for trained first aid personnel were below the standard set in almost every other Australian jurisdiction. This new Code will therefore lift requirements for trained first aiders to a standard more relevant to contemporary workplace needs.

“The more people trained in basic first aid who may be able to keep a person alive until an ambulance arrives - the safer both our workplace and communities will be.”

The new Code and explanatory notes will soon be available from the SafeWork SA website www.safework.sa.gov.au.