Workplace First Aid Requirements UK: HSE Guidelines [2026]

Quick Answer: What First Aid Do I Need at Work?

Under the Health and Safety (First-Aid) Regulations 1981, all UK employers must provide adequate and appropriate first-aid equipment, facilities, and personnel to ensure employees receive immediate attention if they are injured or taken ill at work.

The level of first-aid provision depends on the nature of your work, the size of your workforce, and the results of your first-aid needs assessment. At a minimum, every workplace must have:

• A first-aid kit (suitably stocked)
• An appointed person to take charge of first-aid arrangements
• Information for employees about first-aid arrangements

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The Legal Framework

Health and Safety (First-Aid) Regulations 1981

These regulations require every employer to provide, or ensure the provision of, adequate first-aid equipment, facilities, and personnel. The regulations were simplified in 2013 when the Approved Code of Practice (ACOP) was withdrawn and replaced with HSE guidance (L74).

Key Requirements

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First-Aid Needs Assessment

The starting point for all first-aid provision is a needs assessment. Consider:

Workplace Hazards

Workforce Size

The HSE provides the following guidance on numbers of first-aid personnel:

Lower-risk workplaces (offices, shops, libraries):

Higher-risk workplaces (construction, manufacturing, warehousing):

Other Factors to Consider

• Multi-site working -- each site needs adequate provision
• Shift working -- first-aid cover must be available on all shifts
• Remote or lone workers -- may need personal first-aid kits and training
• Shared premises -- coordinate with other employers in shared buildings
• Public access -- consider non-employees who may need first aid
• History of accidents -- previous incident data should inform provision
• Distance from emergency services -- remote locations need higher provision
• Annual leave and sickness cover -- ensure cover when first aiders are absent

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Types of First-Aid Personnel

Appointed Person

An appointed person is not a trained first aider. Their role is to:

• Take charge of the first-aid arrangements (maintaining the kit, calling emergency services)
• Look after casualties in an emergency until professional help arrives
• Ensure the first-aid kit is stocked and accessible

Every workplace must have at least an appointed person, even if no trained first aiders are required.

Emergency First Aider at Work (EFAW)

An EFAW-trained person has completed a 1-day (6-hour) course covering:

• Assessing a casualty and calling for help
• CPR (cardiopulmonary resuscitation)
• Managing an unconscious breathing casualty (recovery position)
• Managing choking
• Managing serious bleeding
• Managing shock

First Aider at Work (FAW)

A FAW-trained person has completed a 3-day (18-hour) course covering everything in EFAW plus:

• Burns and scalds
• Poisoning
• Eye injuries
• Fractures and soft tissue injuries
• Chest injuries
• Spinal injuries
• Heart attacks and strokes
• Epileptic seizures
• Asthma attacks
• Diabetic emergencies
• Anaphylaxis
• Hypothermia and hyperthermia

Requalification

First-aid certificates are valid for 3 years. First aiders must requalify before their certificate expires. The HSE strongly recommends annual refresher training (half-day) to maintain skills between requalification courses.

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First-Aid Kit Contents

The HSE does not prescribe a mandatory list of first-aid kit contents, but provides guidance on a minimum stock for a standard workplace first-aid kit:

Additional Items for Higher-Risk Workplaces

• Burns gel/dressings -- additional sizes for workplaces with burn risks
• Eye wash -- at least 900ml sterile saline for workplaces with eye-injury risks
• Tourniquet -- for workplaces with risks of severe bleeding (e.g. chainsaw use)
• Haemostatic dressings -- for high-risk environments
• Automated External Defibrillator (AED) -- increasingly common and recommended by the HSE

Medication

First-aid kits must not contain medication (including paracetamol, aspirin, or antihistamines). First aiders can assist an individual in taking their own prescribed medication (such as an EpiPen for anaphylaxis or an inhaler for asthma), but they cannot administer or supply medication.

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First-Aid Room

The HSE recommends a dedicated first-aid room in:

• Workplaces with significant health and safety risks (construction sites, factories)
• Large workplaces (over 150 employees in lower-risk settings, fewer in higher-risk)
• Workplaces far from emergency medical services

A first-aid room should include:

• A treatment couch with clean pillows and blankets
• A sink with hot and cold running water
• A first-aid kit (fully stocked)
• A telephone or communication device
• Suitable lighting, heating, and ventilation
• A chair
• A clinical waste bin
• A record book for treatments administered
• The room should be clearly signposted and accessible

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Record Keeping

Employers should record all first-aid incidents in an accident book or incident log. Under GDPR, individual accident entries must be stored securely and not be visible to other employees (the old-style open accident book is no longer appropriate).

Records should include:

• Date, time, and place of the incident
• Name and job title of the injured person
• Details of the injury or illness
• First-aid treatment given
• What happened to the person afterwards (returned to work, sent home, hospital)
• Name of the first aider

Check whether the incident is also reportable under RIDDOR.

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Automated External Defibrillators (AEDs)

The HSE and Resuscitation Council UK strongly encourage workplaces to have an AED:

• Sudden cardiac arrest kills approximately 30,000 people per year in the UK outside hospital
• Early defibrillation (within 3-5 minutes) can increase survival rates from less than 10% to over 70%
• AEDs are designed for use by untrained bystanders -- they give voice instructions and will only deliver a shock if one is needed
• There is no legal requirement to provide an AED, but a first-aid needs assessment may identify it as appropriate
• If you provide an AED, ensure it is regularly maintained, checked monthly, and that staff know where it is

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Signage and Communication

• Display first-aid signs showing the location of first-aid kits and the names of first aiders/appointed persons
• Signs should conform to the Health and Safety (Safety Signs and Signals) Regulations 1996 -- white cross on a green background
• Ensure all employees know who the first aiders are and where the first-aid kit is located
• Include first-aid information in the employee handbook and induction programme

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How Grove HR Supports First-Aid Compliance

• Training records -- track first-aid qualifications (EFAW, FAW), expiry dates, and annual refresher completion
• Onboarding checklists -- include first-aid location briefing and information for new starters
• Compliance alerts -- notify managers when first-aid certificates are approaching expiry
• Document storage -- store first-aid needs assessments, incident records, and training certificates
• Absence data -- cross-reference first-aid incidents with absence records for RIDDOR assessment