About first aid certificates

Your first aid certificate is the key document for demonstrating that you and your workplace are compliant: We want you to get the certificate you need!

What are the main differences between first aid certificates?

From a compliance perspective, there are two key differences among first aid certificates issued in New Zealand:

    1. Whether the certificate has been issued by an NZQA approved provider, and
    2. Whether the certificate confirms assessment or revalidation of unit standards.
Key points first aid certificates

What are NZQA approved providers and why does this matter?

WorkSafe recommends that first aid training is delivered by an NZQA approved provider. While this is ‘just’ a recommendation, you would need to carefully think about whether it’s ok for your workplace to go against this WorkSafe recommendation.

NZQA approved providers are called Private Training Establishments (or PTE). NZQA approved providers are listed on the NZQA website. Being a PTE means that the provider has been approved by NZQA and that the provider and training programmes are continuously quality assured. NZQA also ensures the protection of learner wellbeing and safety and learners have the right to raise issues about their training with NZQA. We describe certificates issued by an NZQA approved provider regulated first aid certificates. If you hold a certificate by a provider not listed on the NZQA website we consider your certificate to be unregulated and this means that there may be no quality assurance in place.

 

Why do certificates show unit standards and why does this matter?

First aid unit standards describe the core skills and knowledge that experts identified as important for most people. They also set standards for best practice in first aid training. The three core first aid unit standards (6402, 6401, and 6400) were developed by NZQA and are managed by the Workforce Development Council Toitū te Waiora. Many industries require workers to hold unit standard-based certificates. However, some industries and workplaces have unique first aid needs that require different and/or additional first aid training. We provide information about general first aid compliance requirements here and about industry- and sector-specific first aid requirements here.

If your first aid certificate shows unit standards (all three or a subset of them), this generally means that you were assessed against the unit standards or that your revalidation training has revalidated your previous unit standard assessment. Only NZQA approved provides can deliver unit standard-based training.

Being assessed against unit standards or showing unit standards on your certificate does not mean that these standards were recorded on your NZQA Record of Achievement; this is a separate (encouraged but optional) process.

To find out more about how to decide what first aid training your workplace or organisation needs click here.