Employers have been required to “adequately” stock the first aid kit since the Health and Safety (First Aid) regulations 1981 came in to play, yet until recently there was no definition of what “adequate” meant. The BS-8599 have now set out standards for adequate first aid kits for UK employers, to help you, we have outlined details below as a quick guide:

Step 1

All organisations need to determine what type of first aid kit (or kits) you need. This depends primarily on what type of work your organisation does and the number of employees doing it.

As most of our readers work in a high risk environment, we are outlining further details based on high risk environments.

Step 2

All organisations need to determine how many people work on your site at a time.

• If there are less than 5 employees in total, you will require a single ‘small’ kit.
• If there are between 5 and 25 people on site at any one time, you will require a single ‘medium’ sized kit.
• If there are more than 25 people on site at any one time, you’ll need one large kit per 25 employees (meaning, you would need 2 kits if 26 persons were to be on site, 3 kits if 51 persons were to be on site etc).

Step 3

Ensure you have the minimum (at least!) contents for the right amount of persons, working in that particular environment.

4 Employees or Less

The minimum contents for a ‘small’ first aid kit is:

• One 10cm x 10cm burn dressing
• 40 wash-proof plasters, assorted sizes
• Two eye pad dressings (with sterile bandages)
• One adult size foil blanket
• One large and four medium HSE dressings (sterile but unboxed)
• Six pairs nitrile gloves
• One mouth to mouth resuscitation device (with valve)
• Two 3.5cm finger dressings (with adhesive fixings)
• One 7.5cm x 4 metre conforming bandage
• One roll of 2.5cm x 5 metre microporous tape
• 20 cleansing wipes
• Six safety pins (assorted sizes)
• Two 90cm x 127cm single-use triangular bandages
• One pair of 6” universal shears
• One first aid guidance leaflet

5 to 25 Employees

The minimum contents for a ‘medium’ first aid kit is:

• Two 10cm x 10cm burn dressings
• 60 wash-proof plasters, assorted sizes
• Three eye pad dressings (with sterile bandages)
• Two adult size foil blanket
• Two large and six medium HSE dressings (sterile but unboxed)
• Nine pairs nitrile gloves
• One mouth to mouth resuscitation device (with valve)
• Three 3.5cm finger dressings (with adhesive fixings)
• Two 7.5cm x 4 metre conforming bandage
• One roll of 2.5cm x 5 metre microporous tape
• 30 cleansing wipes
• Twelve safety pins (assorted sizes)
• Three 90cm x 127cm single-use triangular bandages
• One pair of 6” universal shears
• One first aid guidance leaflet

Per 25 Employees

The minimum contents for a ‘large’ first aid kit is:

• Two 10cm x 10cm burn dressings
• 100 wash-proof plasters, assorted sizes
• Four eye pad dressings (with sterile bandages)
• Three adult size foil blanket
• Two large and eight medium HSE dressings (sterile but unboxed)
• Twelve pairs nitrile gloves
• Two mouth to mouth resuscitation device (with valves)
• Four 3.5cm finger dressings (with adhesive fixings)
• Two 7.5cm x 4 metre conforming bandage
• One roll of 2.5cm x 5 metre microporous tape
• 40 cleansing wipes
• Twenty four (24) safety pins (assorted sizes)
• Four 90cm x 127cm single-use triangular bandages
• One pair of 6” universal shears
• One first aid guidance leaflet

It is worth remembering that these standards represent the minimum contents required. It doesn’t hurt to overstock slightly or assume that on occasion there may be more people present on site than your payroll figures suggest. 

If you would like to purchase a first aid kit from MECsafe, please do not hesitate to contact us.

 

In construction news this week…

O’Rourke demolition collapse. Video footage has emerged of the collapse of car park floors during demolition work by Laing O’Rourke last week.

Mabey profit soars to £12m after business revamp. Bridge and engineering services specialist Mabey is planning to invest heavily in the business after returning strong profits last year.

Balfour/Vinci HS2 chief joins Murphy. Murphy has appointed Balfour Beatty/Vinci HS2 project boss Peter Anderson as managing director for its southern operations.

 

In MECsafe news this week…

We still have plenty of availability on the following courses:

• SSSTS Refresher – 27th Jan 2017
• IPAF 3a & 3b – 30th Jan 2017
• Health & Safety Awareness – 1st Feb 2017 (Ask us about completing your CSCS test for the green Labourer card after the course)!

If you would like any further information on any of the above, please do not hesitate to contact us.