{"id":42451,"date":"2026-09-04T10:30:16","date_gmt":"2026-09-03T21:30:16","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.drivingtests.co.nz\/resources\/?p=42451"},"modified":"2026-09-04T10:30:19","modified_gmt":"2026-09-03T21:30:19","slug":"workplace-first-aid-responsibilities-in-new-zealand","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.drivingtests.co.nz\/resources\/workplace-first-aid-responsibilities-in-new-zealand\/","title":{"rendered":"Workplace First Aid Responsibilities in New Zealand"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Do you have a first aid kit? Have you checked it recently? Has it run out of any items? Office first aid generally has lower-risk outcomes compared to workshop or construction first aid, for example, so have you chosen the right type of first aid kit?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Under the Health and Safety at Work (General Risk and Workplace Management) Regulations 2016 (regulation 13), a PCBU must ensure adequate first aid equipment is provided<\/strong>, that workers have access to that equipment and to first aid facilities, and that workers have access to an adequate number of trained first aiders; regulation 14 separately requires the PCBU to prepare, maintain and implement an emergency plan. Workers, in turn, owe duties under section 45 of HSWA 2015 to take reasonable care and follow reasonable health-and-safety instructions and procedures.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

A workplace first aider’s role is narrow and well-defined: provide immediate, basic care to preserve life and prevent deterioration until professional help arrives. ANZCOR guidance states first aiders “are not expected to diagnose medical conditions, as that is the role of health professionals, but to identify when urgent help is needed and take the right immediate actions.” Consent should be obtained from a competent person; where a person is unconscious or incompetent, NZ law (Right 7(4) of the Code of Health and Disability Services Consumers’ Rights; the common-law doctrine of necessity) permits care in their best interests.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

New Zealand has no dedicated “Good Samaritan” statute<\/strong> granting blanket civil immunity, unlike Australian states. First aiders are nonetheless protected in practice if they act in good faith within the limits of their training; the greater legal exposure sits with the PCBU\/employer for failing the first aid duty itself, which under HSWA section 48 can attract fines up to $1.5 million for a body corporate.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The short version is that you need to have appropriate first aid kits, train your people in first aid<\/a> and how to use first aid kids, and for them to know what the limits of their skills are.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Let’s expand those points.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

1. The PCBU’s first aid duty (reg 13, GRWM Regulations 2016).<\/strong> A “person conducting a business or undertaking” must ensure that adequate first aid equipment is provided for the workplace; that workers have access to that equipment and to first aid facilities; and that workers have access to an adequate number of other persons trained to administer first aid. In complying, the PCBU “must have regard to all relevant matters, including the nature of the work being carried out at the workplace.” What is “adequate” turns on the nature and hazards of the work, workforce size and composition, and distance from medical help. WorkSafe NZ’s guidance “First aid at work” operationalises this duty.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

2. The emergency plan duty (reg 14).<\/strong> Separately from first aid, a PCBU must prepare, maintain, and implement an emergency plan for the workplace, covering emergency response, evacuation procedures, contacting emergency services, and medical treatment\/assistance procedures, plus communication between the response co-ordinator and others. WorkSafe advises testing emergency plans at least yearly. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

3. Worker duties (s 45 HSWA 2015).<\/strong> While at work, a worker must: take reasonable care for his or her own health and safety; take reasonable care that his or her acts or omissions do not adversely affect the health and safety of others; comply, as far as the worker is reasonably able, with any reasonable instruction given by the PCBU to allow it to comply with HSWA; and co-operate with any reasonable, notified health-and-safety policy or procedure. These duties are less onerous than the PCBU’s but are enforceable: workers are duty holders who can be prosecuted.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

4. Statistics.<\/strong> Per Stats NZ’s “Injury statistics \u2013 work-related claims: 2024” (released 18 October 2025): “A total of 209,400 work-related claims were made in 2024 (down 16,600 from 2023),” and “In 2024, the incidence rate for work-related injury claims was 80 claims per 1,000 full-time equivalent employees (FTEs). This is the lowest rate since the start of the series in 2002.” “The agriculture, forestry, and fishing; arts and recreation services; and manufacturing industries had the highest incidence rates of work-related injury claims in 2024.” Trades workers had the most claims by occupation (34,400); the abdomen (including lower back\/spine) was the most-injured body site (39,700 claims). On fatalities, the Business Leaders’ Health & Safety Forum’s “State of a Thriving Nation 2025” report (Shamubeel Eaqub & Rosie Collins, September 2025) states: “In 2024, 70 people lost their lives to work-related injuries in New Zealand, an average of more than one death every week”, with NZ’s fatality rate “6.5 times higher than the United Kingdom.” That report puts the 2024 cost of New Zealand’s health and safety performance at $5.4 billion, equating to 1.3% of GDP.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

5. Scope of practice.<\/strong> WorkSafe defines first aid as “the immediate and basic care given to an injured or sick person before a doctor, other health professional or emergency services take over their treatment,” focused on “preserving life and minimising serious injury” \u2014 for example, maintaining breathing and circulation, stopping bleeding, and stabilising fractures, and calling 111. ANZCOR explicitly states first aiders are not expected to diagnose. Pain-relief medication in workplace kits “can only be given by someone who is medically trained to do so, otherwise it should only be self-administered by the worker.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n

6. Consent and implied consent.<\/strong> ANZCOR Guidance Statement 10.5.2 advises rescuers obtain consent from a competent person, since treating a competent person without consent “could constitute ‘medical trespass’ (battery \/ assault).” Where a person lacks capacity and no substitute decision-maker is present, “the doctrine of necessity under common law allows treatment without consent” provided it is in good faith, reasonable and in the person’s best interests. In NZ, Right 7(4) of the Code of Health and Disability Services Consumers’ Rights permits services where a consumer is not competent and no person entitled to consent is available, if it is in the consumer’s best interests and reasonable steps are taken to ascertain their views.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

7. Good Samaritan protections.<\/strong> New Zealand has no explicit Good Samaritan statute. ANZCOR Guidance Statement 10.5.1 notes: “New Zealand does not have explicit protection of Good Samaritans. There is a duty to render assistance to another.” Section 151 of the Crimes Act 1961 imposes a duty on a person in charge of another to provide the “necessaries of life.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n

8. ANZCOR guidance on first aider responsibilities.<\/strong> ANZCOR Guideline 2 (Managing an Emergency) sets the priorities \u2014 assess the situation, ensure safety for rescuer\/casualty\/bystanders, send for help, and where more than one person needs attention, “the care of an unconscious person has priority.” The action plan is DRSABCD (Danger, Response, Send for help, Airway, Breathing, CPR, Defibrillation) – if you don’t know what this is, you need to do our first aid course<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

What can first aiders do?<\/h3>\n\n\n\n