First Aid Training Records: What to Keep and for How Long
An Australian workplace should keep a training record for every first aider (a copy of their nationally recognised Statement of Attainment, the units held, the issue date and the next renewal dates), alongside a register of first aid treatment given and a written first aid procedure naming who the first aiders are. Under the model WHS framework, the person conducting a business or undertaking (PCBU) must be able to show that its first aiders are trained for the risks of the site. Records are how you show it, whether the person asking is an auditor, a principal contractor or an inspector.
This guide sets out what to record, what each record should hold, how long to keep it, and how to run the system across large teams, shifting rosters and remote sites.
TL;DR
Keep three linked sets of records: first aider training and certificates, a first aid treatment register, and a written first aid procedure naming your first aiders.
Hold a copy of each first aider’s Statement of Attainment from a registered training organisation (RTO), with unit codes, issue date and renewal dates.
First aid qualifications are renewed every three years and CPR is refreshed annually, so your register needs two separate expiry columns.
Retention periods vary by state and record type. NSW government schedules, for example, set a minimum of 5 years for first aid registers and 75 years for injury registers.
Remote and rosted sites need a live register that shows who is actually on site each shift, not just who holds a certificate.
Table of Contents
Why training records matter beyond the audit
A certificate in a drawer proves one person did one course once. A training record proves your workplace has people who can respond today. Those are different things, and the difference shows up when a first aider’s CPR currency lapses quietly, when a trained person resigns, or when a shift runs with nobody qualified on site.
Safe Work Australia’s model Code of Practice says employers should decide on first aid arrangements through a risk assessment that considers the nature of the work, the hazards, and the number of workers. It also says PCBUs should make sure their first aiders have training appropriate to the risks identified in the workplace. Your records are the evidence that this link between risk and training exists. If you have not yet done the risk step, our 4-step first aid risk assessment guide walks through it.
Note that this article covers record keeping. Your state or territory WHS regulator and your own legal adviser decide what applies to your business, because the model code is adopted with variations across jurisdictions.
The three record sets every workplace needs
Most confusion comes from treating “first aid records” as one folder. In practice there are three, and they answer three different questions.
Record set | Question it answers | Who usually maintains it |
First aider training records | Who is qualified, in what, and until when? | HR, safety manager or training coordinator |
First aid treatment register | What treatment was given, to whom, and when? | The first aider who gave the treatment, reviewed by management |
First aid procedure or policy | Who are our first aiders, where are the kits, and what happens in an emergency? | The PCBU, with worker consultation |
Keep them linked. A treatment entry that names a first aider should trace back to a current training record, and the policy should list only people your register shows as current.
What a training record should contain
The code of practice expects first aiders to hold nationally recognised Statements of Attainment issued by an RTO. Build each person’s record around that document. A practical minimum:
Full name and role, plus the work area or crew they cover.
Course unit codes held, for example HLTAID011 Provide First Aid or HLTAID009 Provide Cardiopulmonary Resuscitation.
Name of the RTO that issued the statement.
Date of issue of the Statement of Attainment.
First aid expiry date, three years from the assessment date.
CPR expiry date, one year from the last CPR assessment.
A scanned copy of the statement, stored where the safety team can reach it.
Notes: refresher booked, on leave, left the business, moved site.
The three-year and annual cycles come from the Safe Work Australia code: first aid qualifications should be renewed every three years and CPR refreshed annually. Our guides on first aid certificate validity and CPR refresher frequency explain how those two clocks interact in practice.
Why two expiry columns matter
The most common gap we see in a register is a single “expiry” column. A first aider who completed HLTAID011 two years ago still holds a valid first aid qualification, but their CPR may have run out a year ago. If your sheet has one date, that person looks current when they are not. Track the two dates separately and colour the CPR column to flag anything inside 60 days of renewal.
Verifying that a certificate is genuine and current
Collect the certificate at induction or at the time the person is nominated as a first aider, and check it before you file it. Check that the issuing organisation is an RTO, that the unit codes match the role, and that the dates are what the worker says. Our guide to how employers verify first aid Statements of Attainment covers the checks in more detail. Do not rely on a worker’s memory of when they last trained.
The first aid treatment register
The model code says first aiders should keep a record of any first aid treatment they give, and report it to managers regularly so that the workplace first aid arrangements can be reviewed. The treatment register is where that happens.
Each entry should capture:
Date, time and exact location of the incident
Name of the person treated and their employer, if a contractor or visitor
A short description of the injury or illness
The treatment given and the first aider’s name
What happened next: returned to work, sent to a medical centre, ambulance called
Whether a separate incident report or regulator notification was needed
Treatment records contain health information, so they need more careful handling than a training sheet. The same code notes that first aid treatment records are subject to Health Records legislation. In practical terms, keep the register in a locked cabinet or access-controlled system, not on an open noticeboard, and limit who can read individual entries. Which health records law applies depends on your state or territory, so ask your regulator or legal adviser when you set up the system.
Reviewing the register is the payoff. Three sprained ankles in one loading area in a quarter tell you something about the floor, and the code’s reason for asking first aiders to report regularly is precisely so that management can review arrangements.
How long to keep first aid records
There is no single national retention figure for every employer. Retention depends on the type of record, your state or territory and whether you are a public sector body. A reliable example is the NSW government’s records authority for occupational health and safety, which sets out how long government agencies must hold such records. It says records of first aid treatment, such as registers, must be kept for a minimum of 5 years after the action is completed. The same authority says injury registers must be kept for at least 75 years after the last entry, or until the electronic data is obsolete.
That schedule binds NSW public agencies, so treat it as a benchmark rather than a rule for a private mining contractor in Western Australia. A sensible approach for private employers is:
Check your state or territory WHS regulator’s guidance for the required period.
Where the rules are unclear, keep treatment and injury records for the longer benchmark periods, because injury claims can surface years later.
Keep training records for at least as long as the person is employed, and then for the period your own policy or your insurer and clients require.
Never delete a record because the first aider has left. Archive it.
If a principal contractor or client requires longer retention in your contract, the contract term wins.
What your first aid policy should say
Searchers often ask for a “first aid training policy”. It is a short document, and it is where the first aider list lives. Safe Work Australia’s code says first aid procedures should name and give contact details for all assigned first aiders and be accessible to all workers. According to the model code, a workplace first aid policy or procedure should also cover:
The types and locations of first aid kits, and who maintains them
How to call for help in an emergency
Names of assigned first aiders
Arrangements for training
How sensitive health information is handled
Incident reporting
Access to debriefing or counselling after a serious event
Those points come from the First Aid in the Workplace Code of Practice. The training section of your policy should state who needs which units, how often refreshers happen, who pays, and where the records are kept. On cost, Safe Work Australia’s first aiders fact sheet says the PCBU should pay for first aid training if necessary, so say so in the policy rather than leaving it to negotiation.
One caution from the code: emergency plans should make sure first aiders understand their roles and do not go beyond their level of expertise. Your records should show what level each person is trained to, so the policy can match tasks to qualifications. For kit requirements, see our audit-ready first aid kit guide.
Choosing who needs training, and recording why
A record of the decision is as useful as a record of the course. After a risk assessment, write down the number of first aiders you decided on, the units each needs and the reasoning. The model code says employers should consider the nature of the work, the hazards and the number of workers, and that the PCBU should review first aid requirements regularly or when circumstances change, consulting workers.
A short decision log might look like this:
Site or crew | Main hazards | Units required | Number of first aiders per shift |
Workshop | Machinery, manual handling | HLTAID011, HLTAID009 | Set by risk assessment |
Remote camp | Distance from medical help, heat, vehicles | HLTAID013, HLTAID009 | Set by risk assessment |
Office | Low risk | HLTAID011 | Set by risk assessment |
Fill in the final column from your own assessment, not from a template. Our practical guide to first aid training needs helps you reach those numbers.
Records for remote sites, large teams and rotating rosters
The model code gives a few directions that translate directly into record keeping. For large teams, it says to consider maximum worker numbers, shifts and absences. For remote workers, it says to provide effective communication and make mobile first aiders easy to identify.
In a records system, that means:
Add a roster view. Your register should show not only who holds a certificate but who is rostered on each shift. A site with six first aiders on paper can have none on night shift.
Plan for absences. Track leave and swing patterns, and aim for cover that survives one first aider being away or injured.
Record the mobile first aiders. For crews that travel, note who carries a kit and which vehicle it is in.
Store records where the site can reach them. A register held only at head office is no use during an incident or an audit at a remote camp with patchy connectivity. Keep an offline copy.
Stagger renewals. If everyone trained in the same week, everyone expires in the same week. Spread refreshers across the year so cover never drops sharply.
Our guide to WHS first aid duties at remote sites sets out the wider obligations, and the refresher requirements guide shows how to avoid gaps.
A simple system you can set up this week
You do not need specialised software. A well-built spreadsheet or your existing HR system will do the job if you follow a routine.
List every nominated first aider with their site, shift and crew.
Collect and scan each Statement of Attainment. Name the files consistently, for example surname_unit_year.
Enter two expiry dates per person: first aid and CPR.
Add reminders at 90 and 30 days before each expiry, sent to the first aider and their supervisor.
Book refreshers early, especially where trainers must travel to your site.
Set up the treatment register in a secure location, with a monthly summary to management.
Review quarterly. Compare your roster against the register and update the policy’s list of first aiders.
Archive, never delete. Move records of departed staff to a restricted archive following your retention rules.
Our perspective: records are a safety tool, not paperwork
We train workers across the Pilbara, from town-based businesses in Port Hedland to crews on remote mine and construction sites, and the pattern we see is consistent. The sites that run well treat the register as a live tool. Someone owns it, it is checked against the roster, and refreshers are booked before certificates lapse.
The sites that struggle usually have the training but not the tracking. A first aider moves crews, a CPR date slips, and nobody notices until a client audit or a real incident. That is why we tailor delivery to the way a business actually operates: onsite, outside standard business hours where rosters demand it, and with course content shaped around the hazards the crew faces. We issue certificates promptly after completion so that your register can be updated while the details are fresh.
Our advice is simple. Pick one person to own the register, give them the authority to chase renewals, and treat any gap as a scheduling problem to solve now rather than a compliance problem to explain later.
— Vapour
Keeping your first aiders current with Prime First Aid and Training
If your register shows renewals coming up, or you need to train a new group of first aiders, we deliver nationally recognised first aid training onsite across the Pilbara, as well as mobile and online options. Courses can be customised to your industry and risks. Our core units include HLTAID011 Provide First Aid at $240, HLTAID009 Provide Cardiopulmonary Resuscitation at $150, and HLTAID013 Provide First Aid in Remote or Isolated Site at $400. You can see the full list on our courses page, or contact us through our Port Hedland site to arrange group training.
We provide each participant’s certificate promptly after completion, ready to file in your register.
FAQ
Does the HLTAID009 CPR certificate expire?
Yes. The Safe Work Australia model code says CPR skills should be refreshed annually, while the broader first aid qualification is renewed every three years. Record the two dates separately so a lapsed CPR does not hide behind a current first aid certificate.
What happens if my first aid certificate expires?
An expired qualification means you can no longer be counted as a current first aider on your employer’s register. The usual fix is to complete the relevant course again through an RTO, and your employer should book it before the expiry date so cover is not interrupted.
How long should a workplace keep first aid records?
It depends on the record type and your jurisdiction. As a benchmark, NSW government schedules set a minimum of 5 years for first aid treatment registers and 75 years for injury registers. Check your own regulator’s guidance, and keep training records at least for the length of employment.
Who is responsible for keeping first aid training records?
The PCBU is responsible for making sure first aiders are trained and that arrangements are in place. In practice, a safety manager, HR or a training coordinator maintains the register. First aiders themselves should record the treatment they give and report it to management.
Who pays for first aider training?
Safe Work Australia’s fact sheet says the PCBU should pay for first aid training if necessary. Put this in your first aid policy so that workers know what to expect.
Sources
Recommended
Comments