First Aid News from Safety 1st

New BS standard for the contents of a First Aid Kit

There is now a new standard for the contents of a First Aid kit BS-8599 (effective from 30th June 2011). The HSE have been involved in the creation of the new standard. The current guidelines in ACOP (L74) are met and exceeded by the new BSi Standard.
However It is worth noting that the standard is not compulsory and the contents of a first aid box will be dependent on an employer’s first aid needs assessment.

As before it is recommended that you don’t keep tablets and medicines in the first-aid box. The BSi has outlined a guide to help employers select the most suitable kit for their requirements:

First Aid Needs Assessment should consider the following:

Low Hazard Workplace (e.g. shops, offices etc.)

• Less than 25 employees – small kit
• 25 – 100 employees – medium size kit
• Over 100 employees – 1 large kit per 100 employees

High Hazard Workplace (e.g. extensive work with machinery, food processing, warehousing etc.)

• Less than 5 employees – small size kit
• 5 – 25 employees – medium size kit
• Over 25 employees – 1 large kit per 25 employees

More information to follow from the HSE website.