Every New Zealand workplace has a responsibility under the Health and Safety at Work Act 2015 to provide workers with access to appropriate first aid arrangements.
What many business owners don't realise is that New Zealand's health and safety regulations do not prescribe a one-size-fits-all approach. The requirements are based on the risks, size, location and nature of your workplace. A construction site, forestry operation or manufacturing plant may require very different first aid arrangements from a small office, retail store or professional services business.
WorkSafe's first aid guidance focuses on ensuring workplaces have appropriate first aid equipment, access to trained workplace responders, clear information for staff, and arrangements that reflect the actual risks present in the workplace.
That's why Online First Aid starts with an assessment of your workplace. We help identify your first aid needs, provide targeted online learning for nominated staff, support you with practical first aid resources and workplace communication, and confirm key life-saving skills through 30-minute video calls — practical assessments and workplace simulations with feedback based on current best-practice guidelines, using our CPR training tools.
For many low-risk New Zealand workplaces, this provides a practical, risk-based approach to building and demonstrating first aid readiness — without losing an entire day to a generic classroom course.
How we reference your industry risk
Because the right first aid arrangements depend on your workplace's actual risk, our assessment uses ACC's own industry risk classifications as an objective reference point — the industry injury-risk data ACC uses to set each industry's work levy. It's an evidence-based way to check whether your industry sits in the low-risk range that an online-only approach suits, or whether it typically carries the kind of hazards that need tailored, in-person training. That industry signal is weighed alongside the specific hazards, size, location and public exposure of your own site.
Online First Aid isn't affiliated with, or endorsed by, ACC — we simply use their published industry risk data as a reference.
Sources: Health and Safety at Work Act 2015, General Risk & Workplace Management Regulations 2016 (reg 13 — duty to provide first aid), WorkSafe NZ — First aid at work, and ACC — industry classifications & work levies.