Just Out

Importance of Workplace First Aid Kit

Written on January 20, 2012 by Jenny Stevens

Filed Under: Health

We live in an increasingly Health and Safety aware environment and sometimes people complain about that, however it is hard to argue that taking sensible precautions is a good idea. I would suggest that the most basic of steps you can take is to ensure that at work there is a correctly stocked first aid kit. If you are in charge then it is your responsibility to provide one, if you are an employee you should be sure that you know where it is and what is in it.

The next most important feature is to ensure that it is ‘environment appropriate’. What I mean but that is that the kit has in it things that are most likely to combat the hazards faced at work. Most kits will have the same basic essentials (plasters, slings, similar) but if you are working with specific chemicals you may need eye baths, goggles etc. If you are working as a tree surgeon then you are more likely to face dangerous accidents than you are if you are sitting at a desk typing! Make sure that if you have an emergency the kit that you might need is included in the kit. A lot of firms stock specific workplace first aid kits for named jobs. It is a good idea to check these for what they have in them if you are not buying one directly.

Make sure that it is someone’s job to keep it checked and stocked. There is no point in having a Workplace First Aid Kit that has run out of plasters! At home you can keep easier track of it because you are likely to know who is using what, at work this may not be the case so it needs to be looked at regularly.

Finally make sure that you have enough first aid trained workers on site and ensure that they are happy with the contents of the kit – there is no point in having one if the person needs something else every time or has no idea how to use the contents.

Hopefully you will never need your first aid kit in the workplace. But if you do it’s best to be prepared.