British Standard BS 8599 First Aid Kit Contents List
The British Standard BS 8599 sets out the requirements for first aid kits in the workplace. The rules can seem confusing for some organisations and employers.
In this first aid blog post we explain the first aid kit requirements in order to meet BS 8599.
Employers are required to make a risk assessment to decide what hazard levels are and how many employees are involved in the area to be covered. Below is a useful guide to help match this risk assessment to an appropriate kit size.
Where there are special circumstances, such as remoteness from emergency medical services, shiftwork or sites with several separate buildings there might need to be more First Aid kits than set out in the table below.
|
Category of Hazard |
Number of employees |
Number and Size of First Aid Kits |
|
Low Hazard:
Shops, Offices, Libraries etc |
Less than 25
25 – 100
More than 100
|
Small Size Kit
Medium Size Kit
1 Large Size Kit (per 100 employees)
|
|
High Hazard:
Light engineering and Assembly work, Food Processing, Warehousing, Extensive Work with dangerous machinery or instruments, construction, chemical manufacture etc.
|
Less than 5
5 – 25
More than 25 |
Small Size Kit
Medium Size Kit
1 Large Size Kit (per 25 employees) |
BS 8599 First Aid kit contents list
Here are the suggested first aid kit contents for each of the kit sizes.
|
Contents |
Small |
Medium |
Large |
Travel |
|
First Aid Guidance Leaflet |
1 |
1 |
1 |
1 |
|
Contents List |
1 |
1 |
1 |
1 |
|
Medium Dressing (12cm x 12cm) (Sterile) |
4 |
6 |
8 |
1 |
|
Large Dressing (18cm x 18cm) (Sterile) |
1 |
2 |
2 |
1 |
|
Triangular Bandage (Single use) (90cm x 127cm) |
2 |
3 |
4 |
1 |
|
Safety Pins (Assorted) (minimum length 2.5cm) |
6 |
12 |
24 |
2 |
|
Eye Pad Dressing with Bandage (Sterile) |
2 |
3 |
4 |
0 |
|
Washproof Assorted Plasters |
40 |
60 |
100 |
10 |
|
Moist Cleaning Wipes |
20 |
30 |
40 |
4 |
|
Microporous Tape (2.5cm x 5m or 3m for Travel Kit) |
1 |
1 |
1 |
1 |
|
Nitrile Gloves (1 pair) |
6 |
9 |
12 |
1 |
|
Finger Dressing with Adhesive Fixing (3.5cm) |
2 |
3 |
4 |
0 |
|
Mouth to Mouth Resuscitation Device with Valve |
1 |
1 |
2 |
1 |
|
Foil Blanket (130cm x 210cm) |
1 |
2 |
3 |
1 |
|
Eye Wash (250ml) |
0 |
0 |
0 |
1 |
|
Burn Relief Dressing (10cm x 10cm) |
1 |
2 |
2 |
1 |
|
Universal Shears (Suitable for cutting clothing) |
1 |
1 |
1 |
1 |
|
Conforming Bandage (7.5cm x 4m) |
1 |
2 |
2 |
1 |
Once a kit has been placed, it should be checked regularly to ensure the contents are up to date and have not passed their expiry date.
