Creating a First Aid Kit

The relevant law governing first-aid equipment is in the Health and Safety (First Aid) Regulations 1981. These regulations oblige employers to supply appropriate and adequate first-aid equipment for the workplace. The purpose of this equipment is to give employees the initial help they need following a Workplace Injury or sudden illness.

Appropriate and Adequate

The phrase ‘appropriate and adequate’ makes it clear that the contents of a first-aid kit will vary from one workplace and industry to another. Employers must therefore take account of certain factors.

Risk Assessment

The starting point is to consult the workplace Risk Assessment. Using the assessment, an employer can establish the risks. He or she then has to decide on the appropriate first-aid equipment.

Even in a workplace with apparently few risks, an employer must still supply a basic first-aid kit. There must also be a person responsible for checking the kit’s contents and replacing any that are missing or beyond their use-by dates.

In a high-risk environment, the kit’s contents must match the hazards. If there’s a possibility of burns, for instance, the kit must contain appropriate dressings.

Where there’s a high risk of an accident, an employer should also consider arranging for trained first-aiders and a first-aid room.

Accident Book

Another useful way of establishing what a first-aid kit should contain is to look through the workplace accident book.

Such a book has a record of injuries and poor health. It acts as a useful guide to the type of kit that a workplace needs.

Where there is any doubt concerning the kit’s contents, particularly specialist items, an employer should speak to a professional. A local health centre, hospital or St John Ambulance unit may be able to help.

Off-Site Workers

Some employees travel frequently or work remotely. Those employers with such off-site workers should think about issuing personal first-aid kits.

These kits should be compact and portable, and have basic first-aid items. The contents must reflect, however, the specialist nature of any work and the likely hazards. They should, in other words, be appropriate and adequate.

Contents

The law does not insist on certain items being in a First-aid Kit. The contents depend on the needs of employees.

In a low-risk work environment such as an office or shop, the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) recommends the following:

• Six safety pins
• Six individual wound dressings – these should be sterile and medium-sized
• Two large individual and sterile wound dressings
• Disposable gloves
• Four sterile triangular bandages
• 20 individual plasters – these should be in a range of sizes
• Two eye pads
• A leaflet about basic first aid

The first aid kit should not have medicines and tablets. Some people may have a bad reaction to even the simplest of over-the-counter pills.

Availability

Chemists sell basic first aid kits. And if you ask, staff at a good chemist’s will help create a kit that addresses the specific needs of a workplace.

Online, there are specialist retailers that stock first-aid kits. They also supply appropriate cupboards and bags.