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Thought of the Day |
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Workplace or Industrial First Aid Kit Requirements
Standards are set for the work environment by the OSHA (Occupational Safety & Health Administration) a sub-agency of the US Department of Labor. These standards are to insure workplace safety. OSHA requires adequate first aid supplies to be available in the workplace but they don't require any specific contents.
ANSI has certain standards regarding the contents of first aid kits. As per ANSI standards "Kits in compliance with this standard will provide a basic range of products to deal with most types of injuries encountered in the workplace. The assortment of required contents was developed based on treatment for the following potential injuries: major wounds, minor wounds (cuts and abrasions), minor burns and eye injuries".
Each workplace is unique. Additional first aid products should be selected to augment required contents based on the particular work environment.
Keeping track of First Aid Kits
Since the early 1990s, when the federal government put laws in place requiring that employers provide a modicum of first aid supplies to workers who volunteer as first-responders in an accident or other emergency, most companies have remained more cognizant of their first aid kit's contents.
Whatever the work setting, there is a fair amount of overlap in first aid kits - scissors, disposable gloves, gauze, band-aids and pain relieving medications. Companies should also know that items such as biohazard bags and breathing barriers merit a place alongside the aspirin and cold packs. Items such as safety goggles and breathing barriers for people administering first aid or CPR (cardiopulmonary resuscitation) should now be commonplace.
Companies must recognize differences between work environments of offices, warehouses, or manufacturing facilities. At operations where there is a greater risk of losing a limb of suffering a severe cut, first aid protocols must be followed for wound care, preserving the body part and disposing of the materials used to clean up any blood spill. Biohazard kits, which need to supplement a first-aid kit, typically contain a higher quality pair of gloves, a body fluid encapsulate, disposable waste scoops, a biohazard waste bag, wipes and sanitizing solutions.
First aid supplies should be regularly checked and re-stocked to ensure that supplies are in place for when employees use a bandage or take an aspirin in a non-emergency situation. Taking care of minor wounds is important but, first aid can also help in more serious situations until injuries can get more serious attention. Also, don't forget to keep a selection of occupational safety products such as safety glasses, hard hats, ear plugs, work gloves, etc on hand to help prevent some of these minor injuries.
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