Know The New First Aid Kit Standards

This is part one of a three-part article about first aid kit supply revisions.

When an accident happens in a workplace, an employee expects his or her company’s first aid kit to be stocked and able to help.

In an effort to increase its effectiveness, the International Safety Equipment Association (ISEA) recently revised its requirements for first aid kits, effective June 17. The standard establishes the minimum quantity of certain products for first aid kits and supplies. It also establishes two classes of kits, as well as the addition of newly required items.

Jan/san distributors selling first aid supplies will need to make sure their kits meet the new revisions by this summer’s deadline.

In its 29 Code of Federal Regulations (CFR) 1910.151(b), the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) states that “adequate first aid supplies shall be readily available” in facilities not in proximity to hospitals or clinics able to render first aid. For information on which first aid supplies should be available, the regulation’s appendix refers to the American National Standard – Minimum Requirements for Workplace First Aid Kits and Supplies (ANSI/ISEA Z308.1).

This standard was developed by ISEA in conjunction with the American National Standards Institute (ANSI). ISEA revised the standard in 2015 to correct a minor technical revision. ANSI has a five-year life cycle for standards, and some sort of action was needed on the standard, whether that was to make no changes, revise it or discard.

For revisions, things like new test methods, new use patterns, emerging technologies or hazards all play factors, says Cristine Fargo, director of member and technical services at ISEA.

“You tailor that standard now to accommodate or mirror some of those new technologies or updated test methods,” says Fargo. “You’re always in a constant revision. Sometimes, depending on where you are in the process, some things may come to light that you can’t get in that particular version of that standard because you’re nearing completion.”

Those things carry over to the next revision.