First Aid Requirements for UK Trade Businesses — Kits, Training and the Law (2026)

What the Law Requires

The main law is the Health and Safety (First-Aid) Regulations 1981. These require employers to provide adequate and appropriate first aid equipment, facilities and personnel so that employees can be given immediate help if they are injured or taken ill at work. They sit underneath the Health and Safety at Work etc. Act 1974, which places the broad duty on employers to protect the health, safety and welfare of everyone affected by their work.

The Health and Safety Executive (HSE) is the regulator. There is no fixed shopping list in the regulations — instead the law expects you to work out what is "adequate and appropriate" for your business and to provide it. In practice that means a suitable first aid kit, someone responsible for first aid arrangements, and information so that workers know what to do and where to go if there is an incident.

"Adequate and Appropriate" Means a First Aid Needs Assessment

There is no one-size-fits-all answer to how much first aid provision you need. The starting point is a first aid needs assessment — a simple, documented look at the risks of your work and what they mean for first aid. The HSE expects you to consider:

• The nature of the work and the hazards involved — sharp tools, hot works, electricity, working at height, dust and chemicals
• The number of workers and how spread out they are
• Your work locations — one site, multiple sites, customers' homes, or remote rural jobs
• Lone and remote working, where help may be a long way off
• Your history of accidents and the realistic worst case
• How quickly the emergency services could reach you

Construction and the building trades are higher-risk than, say, an office, so the assessment will usually point toward more provision: a properly stocked kit in every van, trained first aiders on bigger jobs, and clear arrangements for getting help on remote sites. Write the assessment down and keep it — commercial clients often ask to see it.

Sole Traders and the Self-Employed

If you are genuinely self-employed and working entirely on your own, the 1981 Regulations — which are written around protecting employees — do not strictly apply to you in the same way. There is no employee for you to provide first aid to. That said, this is not a free pass to carry nothing.

You still have a duty under the Health and Safety at Work etc. Act 1974 to ensure your own health and safety, and not to put others at risk. You should carry a first aid kit so you can deal with the cuts, splinters and minor burns that are a daily part of trade work. And here is the practical reality: on most commercial and CDM 2015 sites, the principal contractor will require first aid provision regardless of your employment status. You will often be expected to have your own kit and, on bigger jobs, to be covered by site first aid arrangements or hold a first aid certificate yourself.

So while a lone sole trader is not legally compelled by the 1981 Regulations to set up the same provision as an employer, in practice every tradesperson should carry a kit and many should hold a first aid qualification. It protects you, it is expected on site, and it looks professional to clients.

Employers — Your Duties if You Have Staff

The moment you take on staff, an apprentice, or labour-only subcontractors who work under your direction, the 1981 Regulations apply in full. As an employer you must:

• Provide a suitable, stocked first aid kit appropriate to your work and team size
• Have at least an appointed person to take charge of first aid arrangements
• Provide one or more trained first aiders where your needs assessment shows they are needed — which, for construction and other higher-risk trades, it usually will
• Tell your workers about the first aid arrangements — where the kit is and who is responsible

You cannot pass this duty off onto your workers. The provision is your responsibility, and it should scale with the size and risk of the jobs you run.

Appointed Person vs Qualified First Aider

There are different levels of first aid cover, and the right one depends on your needs assessment.

Appointed Person

An appointed person takes charge in an emergency — they call 999, look after the first aid kit and make sure help is on its way. No formal training is required to be an appointed person. This is the minimum level of cover and is only suitable for low-risk situations with very few workers. For most trade work it is not enough on its own.

Emergency First Aid at Work (EFAW)

EFAW is a one-day course covering the essentials — managing an unresponsive casualty, CPR, choking, bleeding, shock and minor injuries. It is a solid baseline for smaller or lower-risk teams and a sensible qualification for many sole traders to hold.

First Aid at Work (FAW)

FAW is a three-day course covering a much wider range of injuries and illnesses, and is the qualification expected in higher-risk workplaces such as construction. The certificate is valid for three years, after which you requalify. Larger teams and site-based trades generally point toward having FAW-trained first aiders, and many principal contractors expect to see them on site.

As a rule of thumb: construction, higher-risk work and larger teams point toward FAW-trained first aiders; smaller, lower-risk operations may be fine with EFAW; and an appointed person alone is only ever the bare minimum for genuinely low-risk situations.

First Aid Kits

Van / Personal Kit

Every tradesperson should carry a first aid kit in the van. The recognised standard is British Standard BS 8599 for workplace first aid kits, which come in small, medium and large sizes. Choosing a BS 8599 kit takes the guesswork out of contents and gives clients confidence that your provision meets a recognised benchmark. A small or medium BS 8599 kit is right for most vans.

Site Kit

On site, the kit should be appropriate to the size of the workforce and the level of risk — a larger BS 8599 kit, or several kits across a bigger site, kept somewhere everyone knows about and can reach quickly. On CDM 2015 projects the principal contractor coordinates the overall site first aid arrangements, but you are still expected to play your part.

What a Good Trade Kit Contains

Because the law uses a needs-assessment approach rather than a fixed legal list, treat the following as a sensible working set rather than a statutory requirement. A good trade kit typically includes:

• Plasters in a range of sizes — plenty of them, as cuts are the most common trade injury
• Sterile wound dressings in several sizes
• Bandages, including triangular bandages
• Eye wash and eye pads — important for trades where dust and debris get into eyes
• Burn dressings
• Disposable gloves
• Scissors (tuff cut) and microporous tape
• A foil emergency blanket
• A resuscitation face shield

Check and restock the kit regularly, replace anything used or out of date, and keep it somewhere accessible — a kit buried under tools at the back of the van is no use in an emergency.

Trade-Specific Additions

• Eye wash — essential where dust, debris or chemicals are around, which is most trades
• Burn dressings — for any hot works such as soldering, welding, hot-air stripping or roofing torches
• Blue detectable plasters — if you ever work near food preparation areas
• Extra plasters and dressings — cuts are constant in trade work, so carry more than you think you need

Records and Signage

Record any first aid given and any accident in an accident book. Good records help you spot patterns, support any insurance or compensation matter, and demonstrate to clients that you take safety seriously.

Separately, under RIDDOR (the Reporting of Injuries, Diseases and Dangerous Occurrences Regulations 2013) you must report certain serious and specified injuries, dangerous occurrences and some work-related illnesses to the HSE. Not every injury is reportable, but the more serious ones are — know what RIDDOR covers so you report when you have to.

Finally, make sure everyone on a job knows where the first aid kit is and where the nearest A&E or urgent care is. On an unfamiliar site, a thirty-second check of the nearest hospital before work starts can save critical minutes later.

Why It Also Wins You Work

First aid is not just a cost — it helps you win and keep commercial work. Commercial clients, principal contractors and pre-qualification schemes such as CHAS and SafeContractor routinely ask about your first aid provision and training as part of vetting. Having current FAW or EFAW certificates, a written first aid needs assessment and a proper kit makes those forms quick to complete and helps you pass.

It also signals professionalism. A contractor who turns up with a stocked BS 8599 kit and a first aid certificate looks like a serious operator — and that reputation is exactly what gets you invited back and recommended on.

Practical Checklist for a Small Trade Business

• Do a first aid needs assessment and write it down
• Carry a BS 8599 first aid kit in every van
• Keep every kit stocked, restocked and in date
• Consider EFAW or FAW training — FAW for construction and higher-risk work
• Keep an accident book and record any first aid given
• Know what RIDDOR requires you to report to the HSE
• Provide whatever the commercial sites you work on require
• Make sure everyone knows where the kit and nearest A&E are

Quick Reference: First Aid Provision