Records of injuries, illnesses, ‘near miss’ incidents, and other information will be useful when making decisions about first aid requirements. In New South Wales, clause 42 of the Work Health and Safety Regulation 2017 sets out the duty of employers and others conducting a business or undertaking to provide first aid, but it does not specify the records to be kept. 

More information regarding first aid record keeping is included in the Code of Practice:  First Aid in the Workplace (January 2020, SafeWork NSW).  

This code of practice states that a record of first aid treatment given should be kept by the first aider and reported to managers on a regular basis to assist in reviewing first aid arrangements.

First aid treatment records are subject to requirements under Health Records legislation, in particular, the Health Records and Information Privacy Act 2002, which aims to promote fair and responsible handling of health information by protecting the privacy of an individual's health information held in the public and private sectors. 

Register of injuries  

The record of first aid treatment kept by the first aider is separate from the register of injuries required under the Workplace Injury Management and Workers Compensation Act 1998 (s 256). This states that a register of injuries must be kept in some readily accessible place at every mine, quarry, construction site, factory, workshop, office, or shop in NSW.

Failure to keep such a register is an offence, liable to a maximum penalty of 50 penalty units. (As of 1 July 2023, the value of a penalty unit is $115, but this figure is indexed, so it increases periodically.) 

The website of SafeWork NSW advises that the register of injuries must include: 

  • the name of the injured worker 
  • the worker's address 
  • the worker's age at the time of injury 
  • the worker's occupation at the time of injury 
  • the industry in which the worker was engaged at the time of injury 
  • the time and date of injury 
  • the nature of the injury 
  • the cause of the injury. 

The register of injuries must include workplace injuries and illnesses sustained by workers or visitors. You need to record injuries and illnesses regardless of whether there has been a claim made to your insurer. 

The register of injuries may be kept in writing or by electronic (eg on a computer). If the register of injuries is kept in electronic form, you must provide education, training, and facilities to ensure that your workers are able to access the register. 

SafeWork NSW has a standard template that employers can use for their injury register. Alternatively, employers can buy one from an office stationery supplier. 

Notifiable incidents 

A record of each ‘notifiable incident’ must also be kept. A notifiable incident is a death or serious injury or illness of a person, or a potentially dangerous incident. This is quite separate from first aid records. Details of requirements relating to notifiable incidents are available from SafeWork NSW.