A workplace AED can save lives. Any workplace can become the scene where a life is being decided in seconds. Cardiac arrest moves faster than an ambulance, and the ability to help in the first few minutes belong to whoever is closest. The difference between someone going home that night and a fatality often comes down to having this device ready and accessible, and knowing how to use it.
Cardiac Arrest: When Someone Collapses at Work
In cardiac arrest, the heart’s electrical signals fail and the heart stops pumping blood. The person collapses within seconds, loses consciousness, and stops breathing properly. Brain cells begin to die after about four minutes without blood flow, and survival rates drop by 7 to 10 per cent for every minute that passes before defibrillation.
In a workplace, a worker in sudden cardiac arrest drops to the floor without warning, gives no response to a voice or shoulder squeeze, and either stops breathing or makes irregular gasping sounds. Those gasps are a sign the heart has already stopped.
Where Your Workplace AED Should Be Mounted
An AED only helps if someone can reach it within minutes. The Australian Resuscitation Council recommends placing them so that anyone can quickly get one and return to the casualty within three minutes. For a small office, one unit may be enough, but for a larger site, the longer response-time test means you should have several units across the building. AEDs should be mounted between 1200 and 1500 millimetres from the floor on a wall in a corridor, foyer, or open work area.
The practical test for AEDs in the workplace is whether a worker on the far side of the building can reach the device and return within three minutes. If they cannot, install a second unit.
WHS Obligations and Australian Standards Covering Automated External Defibrillators in the Workplace
No federal law requires a workplace to have an AED, with one state-level exception. South Australia’s Automated External Defibrillators (Public Access) Act 2022 makes AEDs mandatory in certain buildings, facilities, and vehicles, with deadlines for Crown sites and other premises rolling through 2025 and 2026.
For other workplaces, the Safe Work Australia Code of Practice: First Aid in the Workplace sets the standard. Under the Code, an employer must consider AED installation where there is a risk of electrocution, where ambulance response is delayed, or where large numbers of the public are present. Codes of practice carry the weight of legal evidence in court, and regulators use them to judge whether a duty of care has been met.
How the AED, CPR and a Triple Zero Call Work Together
Three actions form the response to a cardiac arrest, in an order set by the Australian chain of survival: a Triple Zero call (Call), immediate chest compressions (Push), and the use of an AED (Shock).
The Triple Zero call comes first. The call taker confirms the address, dispatches an ambulance, and stays on the line to guide the bystander through the next steps. The dispatcher can also direct someone to the nearest registered AED, including yours, if it is listed on the ambulance service registry.
Compressions begin as soon as the call is made or another bystander has taken the call. Chest compressions push oxygenated blood to the brain and other organs while the heart is stopped. Compressions are pushed to about a third of the chest depth, at 100 to 120 per minute, without long breaks.
Once the AED arrives, the pads are placed on the casualty’s bare chest. The device reads the heart rhythm and signals whether a shock is needed. A shock is only delivered when a shockable rhythm is detected, which makes the AED safe to use for an untrained bystander following the voice and visual prompts. Chest compressions continue between rhythm checks until paramedics arrive or the casualty starts breathing on their own.
Your Workplace AED Response Plan
A response plan turns trained colleagues into the people who step in first. Keep it short enough that staff can remember it under stress. Designate a first aider for each shift, and a second person as backup. Both should hold a current CPR and First Aid certificate covering AED use, and both should know where the device is stored and how to operate it.
Brief all staff on the location of the AED, the nearest first aider, and the Triple Zero process. Cover this at induction and refresh it annually. Display the AED location on emergency floor plans next to fire exits and first aid kits.
Maintain your AED. Check it monthly using the manufacturer’s readiness indicator, replace pads on or before the expiry date, and replace the battery on the manufacturer’s schedule. Log each check, since regulators may ask for evidence the device was ready to use when it was needed.
Enrol in CPR and First Aid Training
A workplace AED saves lives when used by trained people at the scene. A CPR and First Aid course gives you the muscle memory and clarity to act on your colleague in cardiac arrest within seconds rather than minutes. Your readiness is the human half of every workplace AED response. The choice to enrol in first aid training puts you on the saving side of those critical minutes.
FAQs
Can A Bystander Be Sued For Using A Workplace AED?
No. The Civil Liability Act protects a person acting in good faith to help someone in a medical emergency, with no fee paid or expected. These Good Samaritan provisions cover bystanders who use a public-access AED in line with the device’s prompts.
Can An AED Be Used On Someone With A Pacemaker?
AEDs can be used safely on a person with a pacemaker or implantable defibrillator. The pads should be placed at least 8 centimetres away from the visible bulge or scar of the implanted device, achieved by offsetting one pad.
Can An AED Be Used On A Pregnant Woman?
Yes, an AED can be used on a pregnant woman in cardiac arrest in the same way as on anyone else. The shocks are safe for the baby, and the priority is still to deliver the first shock as fast as possible. The Australian Resuscitation Council also recommends tilting her slightly onto her left side during chest compressions, by sliding a folded towel or cushion under her right hip.