First Aid Legislation

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.

What is adequate will depend on the circumstances in the workplace. This includes whether trained first aiders are needed, what should be included in a first aid box and if a first aid room is needed. Employers should carry out an assessment of first aid needs to determine this. The minimum first aid provision on any work site is:

• A suitably stocked first aid box
• An appointed person to take charge of first aid arrangements

First Aid Boxes

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:

• 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.

Appointed Persons

An appointed person is someone you choose to:

• Take charge when someone is injured or falls ill, including calling an ambulance if required
• Look after the first aid equipment, e.g. restocking the first aid box
• Appointed persons should not attempt to give first aid for which they have not been trained.
• Remember that an appointed person should be available at all times people are at work on site - this may mean appointing more than one.

Appointed persons first aid training courses are available here

Trained First Aiders

A first aider is someone who has undergone a HSE approved training course in administering first aid at work and holds a current, HSE approved, first aid at work certificate.

First Aid Arrangements

You have to inform your employees of the first aid arrangements. Putting up notices telling staff who and where the first aiders or appointed persons are and where the first aid box is will usually be sufficient. But don't forget that you will need to make special arrangements to give first aid information to employees with reading or language difficulties.

Numbers of First Aid Personnel

It is not possible to give hard and fast rules on when or how many first aiders or appointed persons might be needed. This will depend on the circumstances of each particular organisation or worksite.

The table below 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 this table 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.