Information on the First Aid act 1981

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Information on the First Aid act 1981

What first aid facilities do employers need to provide?

The Health and Safety (First Aid) Regulations 1981 state that there should be adequate and appropriate equipment, facilities and personnel to enable first aid to be given to an employee if they are injured or become ill at work. The regulations outline the minimum provisions. If the business deals with chemicals or machinery that present any specific danger, suitable precautions for these must be available.

An employer must provide a suitably stocked first aid box and appoint a person to take charge of first-aid arrangements.

The first aid box should contain the following:

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  • A first aid guidance leaflet (available from the Health & Safety Executive [HSE])
  • Twenty individually wrapped adhesive sterile dressings
  • Two sterile eye patches
  • Four individually wrapped triangular badges
  • Six safety pins
  • Six medium-sized (about 12cm x 12cm) and two large-sized (about 18cm x 18cm) individually wrapped, sterile, unmediated wound dressings
  • One pair of disposable gloves

Items on this list can be replaced by different, but equivalent, contents. The first aid box should not contain medicine.

The appointed first aid officer should be responsible for taking charge when an accident occurs, calling an ...

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