Did you know the Health and Safety Regulations 1981 require employers to provide ‘adequate and appropriate equipment, facilities and personnel’ to ensure that employees receive immediate attention if they are injured or taken ill at work? These regulations also apply to every workplace, regardless of whether there is 1 employee or 100. The BS 8599-1 standard is a guide to understanding which type of first aid kit is necessary for your workplace, however, unless your industry requires something specialist the amount of first aid kits you require depends on the number of employees.
We have two different kinds of HSE first aid kits available, ideal for offices and shops. The first, and slightly smaller, first aid kit is 3721 and this will provide enough cover for 1-10 employees. The second is 3722 and coves 1-20 employees. As HSE first aid kits these have been approved by the Health and Safety Executive and meet the requirements fo the Health and Safety Regulations 1981. These first aid kits are only suitable for ‘low-hazard’ workplaces such as offices and shops – rather than construction sites and factories.
We also have First Aid Kits which are more tailored towards bars, restaurants, and other catering applications, all of which are available in large, medium and small. Furthermore, we have a Burns Kit, specifically tailored towards workplaces such as kitchens and cafes where burning hazards come into play.
Both the smaller and larger kits contain the same tools, simply in different amounts. Each kit will contain cleansing wipes, vinyl gloves, a guidance note, HSE eyepad dressing, HSE large dressing, HSE medium dressing, an assortment of plasters, safety pins and a triangular bandage. We know that quite often these first aid kits can sit for years untouched, apart from the blue plasters! You can get these separately if you wish, however, make sure you have enough first aid kits for your amount of employees – you don’t want to get caught out by the health and safety inspector! If you are unsure about any part of your first aid kit health and safety obligations you can read about it in more detail here.
