Health and Safey at Work

First Aid in the Workplace

Legal Duties

The Health and Safety (First-Aid) Regulations 1981 require employers to provide adequate and appropriate equipment, facilities and personnel to enable first aid to be given to employees if they are injured or become ill at work. These Regulations apply to all workplaces including those with five or fewer employees and to the self-employed.

Guidance

Assessment of First Aid Needs

Employers are required to carry out an assessment of first aid needs. This involves consideration of workplace hazards and risks, the size of the organisation and other relevant factors, to determine what first aid equipment, facilities and personnel should be provided.

Number of First Aiders

It is not possible to give when or how many first aiders or appointed persons might be needed. This will depend on the circumstances of each particular organisation or worksite. Table (A) offers suggestions on how many first aiders or appointed persons might be needed in relation to categories of risk and number of employees. The details in Table (A) are suggestions only - they are not definitive nor are they a legal requirement. It is for you to assess your first-aid needs in the light of your particular circumstances.

Table A

Where there are special circumstances, such as remoteness from emergency medical services, shiftwork, or sites with several separate buildings, there may need to be more first-aid personnel than set out in Table (A). Increased provision will be necessary to cover for absences. First-aid personnel should be available at all times people are at work.

First - Aid Box

There is no standard list of items to put in a first-aid box. It depends on what you assess the needs are. However, as a guide, and where there is no special risk in the workplace, a minimum stock of first-aid items would be:

A leaflet giving general guidance on first aid, eg HSE leaflet Basic advice on first aid.

At work (see ‘Where can I get further information?’);

20 individually wrapped sterile adhesive dressings (assorted sizes);

Two sterile eye pads;

Four individually wrapped triangular bandages (preferably sterile);

Six safety pins;

Six medium-sized (approximately 12 cm x 12 cm) individually wrapped sterile.

Unmedicated wound dressings;

Two large (approximately 18 cm x 18 cm) sterile individually wrapped.

Unmedicated wound dressings;

One pair of disposable gloves.

You should not keep tablets or medicines in the first-aid box.

The above is a suggested contents list only; equivalent but different items will be considered acceptable.

Next Step

First Aid Risk Assessment

Additional Services

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